Ghost bikes, roadside memorials and perception of cycling

Help me decide.

Half of me thinks they are detrimental to us cyclists.

Cycling is not a dangerous activity as such but we are vunerable, and there are clearly some bad attitudes out there that need to be tempered.

The one thing that I think will most improve the cyclist's lot massively is more cyclists on the road.

However, is this going to happen when people are constantly reminded that people on cycles sometimes get squished?

The reaction of most people that find out I cycle in London is "isn't that dangerous, you wouldn't catch me doing that", so they're clearly not going to get on a cycle soon.

The other half of me thinks we really need to ensure that people are made aware of just how vunerable people on cycles can be, because if we don't attitudes will remain unchanged, which kinda conflicts with my first point.

So when I see a ghost bike or a roadside memorial I get two feelings, sadness at the loss of a life, and concern that it's discouraging more people from taking up cycling.