UK: Cyclists may be forced to ring their bells

[ghostgum]

When in Australia, don't bother. As I said in another post;

ring bell well back, ignore/not noticed,
ring bell closer, ignored/not noticed
ring bell behind, AAARK 50% jump in front, 50% stay still, abuse
don't ring bell = abuse
ride well clear and go around only equals abuse from idiots poms who
still think you should ring your bell.

I find it depends on the when and where. On the Gardiners Ck and Yarra paths leading to Melbourne during the bicycle commute rush hour, ringing the bell works really well. Most pedestrians recognise it, keep left, and appreciate the warning. There are a few individuals who think that the middle of the path or the right hand side are the safest. Those with ear plugs usually keep left because they know they aren't going to hear the bell. On a Sunday however, the pedestrians are all over the place. Further out on the Scotchmans Ck path it doesn't matter which day, the dogs and owners are all over the path.

 

[warrwych]

In aus.bicycle on Mon, 11 Sep 2006 20:19:10 +0800
Plodder <[email protected]> wrote:
> the shared path? Much like the perception many cyclists express toward
> motorists who think they own the road. I know if someone honks their horn at
> me on the road all it does is sloooow meee dooooown... I wonder if bicycle
> bells do the same to some pedestrians.

I feel they are a bit premeptory myself, when I ring the bell I feel a
bit like I'm saying 'move over inferior life form'. I don't know if
the peds think that or not.

Sometimes I ring, sometimes I call "excuse me", I always say "thank
you" when they move over. Only problem I've had is guessing which
side they will move to, some seem to keep left, others seem to cross
the whole path to keep right!

Zebee

I was admonished by a (young female) ped on Sunday for not saying Please!!!!!!! I did say thank you though. Always a first: Passing - please?????

 

[warrwych]

"BT Humble" wrote:
> warrwych wrote:
>> How many times do we pass peds with earphones plugged in? Or chatting
>> away to a companion? Any external noise is 9/10times disregarded. Ring
>> your bell as much as you like, it's not going to make much difference
>> to the majority of peds who aren't listening.
>
> How many times do we pass other cyclists with earphones plugged in?
>
> What's good for the goose...

Have you ever done this yourself?

I have just recently joined the younger set and bought myself an mp3 player.
I've been reluctant to use it while cycling, due to alleged safety risks,
not being able to hear the traffic etc. But I ride with a rear view mirror
and I find that I get much better info about what's behind, and where, from
a regular scan of the mirror. So I gave the mp3 a try the other day.

I set off with the volume at 12 (out of 20), a moderate level. I soon found
I needed to crank it up to about 15 to hear the music over the wind noise
and traffic. I could quite clearly hear all passing traffic, level-crossing
bells and other noises, and had a chat to a fellow rider along the way. It
is certainly no worse then someone in their padded cell with the radio
turned up, and no-one would dare to suggest that is unsafe.

So use your earphones while riding if you like it, just make judicious use
of the volume. On a lot of my riding I cycle with club members and one of
the greatest virtues is to be able to have a chat as we ride through the
countryside, so the mp3 will probably be reserved for solo travelling,
especially any longer tours I do this way.
--
Cheers
Peter

~~~ ~ _@
~~ ~ _- \,
~~ (*)/ (*)

This is an old forum topic, so don't want to revitalise it too much. I personally don't, others do... I find it a bit strange when people go for a walk in the park to commune with nature and then zone out of it (ie nature), listening to music or the radio.

 

[Zebee Johnstone]

In aus.bicycle on Tue, 12 Sep 2006 08:20:13 +1000
beerwolf <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> It bugs me though, having to take a hand off the bar. Did anyone see
> that recent Inventors piece, where some guy invented a bike warning
> setup integrated with a hand grip? I definitely want one of those, when
> they start getting marketed.

I'm seldom going fast enough on paths to bother about moving the hand.
Indeed as I use twistgrips the left hand is just about close enough to the
bell. Mind you once the bar end shifters go on that will change.

Hmm.. a button linked to a teeny speaker and a circuit that produces a
recorded bell sound?

For extra grins, two buttons, one make a bike bell sound, one makes
the sound you think will *really* get their attention.


Zebee

 

[dtmeister]

Zebee Johnstone <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> Hmm.. a button linked to a teeny speaker and a circuit that produces a
> recorded bell sound?

Yeah, I've pondered why tiny lithium coin cell powered electronic bells
don't exist - at least, I can't find any. It would be a piece of cake to
provide 4 or 5 different bell sounds, from a polite 'ding ding' to a
'you're going to die' piercing scream.

--
..dt

 

[Zebee Johnstone]

In aus.bicycle on Wed, 13 Sep 2006 05:27:52 +0800
Plodder <[email protected]> wrote:
> If slowing and sharing the path with other people affects your training
> regime, or holds you up in your hurry to get to your destination, how about
> using the roadinstead of the shared path? Some paths, (along major roads,
> etc) are good for commuting. Some (though parks and recreation areas) are
> not - they're meant for recreation.

Most of the time I'm on a path when commuting it is early or late, so
there aren't recreational walkers about. Sometimes on a summer
morning there are elderly people having a constitutional, usually
there's room to get round them or I slow down and call "excuse me" if
they are across the path.

It's when I'm going places on a weekend that I find the problem
It's not really commuting as "it's a lovely day and it's not that far
and I can get there on the pushie, let's go!". Which is recreational
riding I reckon. I'm usually faster than the families out with kids
which is only to be expected, and there are a lot more peds.

I still don't like the bell, but the squeaky toy sounds perfect!
I wonder what kind I should get... A friend has a rubber lobster, I
wonder if I could snaffle that!

Zebee

 

[Terryc]

Plodder wrote:

> For a long time my partner had a squeaky toy on her bars instead of a bell.

What was the squeaky toy and how did she mount it?

 

[BT Humble]

Peter Signorini wrote:
> "BT Humble" wrote:
> > warrwych wrote:
> >> How many times do we pass peds with earphones plugged in? Or chatting
> >> away to a companion? Any external noise is 9/10times disregarded. Ring
> >> your bell as much as you like, it's not going to make much difference
> >> to the majority of peds who aren't listening.
> >
> > How many times do we pass other cyclists with earphones plugged in?
> >
> > What's good for the goose...
>
> Have you ever done this yourself?

My point was more "if you're going to grouse about pedestrians wearing
walkmen, apply it equally to your fellow cyclists who do." As you
mention below, if you turn it up to overcome the wind noise you'll be
blotting out a lot of other useful noises as well.


BTH

 

[BT Humble]

Paulus wrote:
> <SNIP>
> >
> > How many times do we pass other cyclists with earphones plugged in?
> >
> > What's good for the goose...
> >
> Not often in my experience.

Approximately 1 in 3 cyclists on my daily commute.


BTH

 

[Zebee Johnstone]

In aus.bicycle on 12 Sep 2006 16:41:58 -0700
BT Humble <[email protected]> wrote:
> My point was more "if you're going to grouse about pedestrians wearing
> walkmen, apply it equally to your fellow cyclists who do." As you
> mention below, if you turn it up to overcome the wind noise you'll be
> blotting out a lot of other useful noises as well.

I don't blot out wind noise, I have it high enough so I can hear the
MP3 - talk, not music, I'm a BBC7 fan - rather than so I can't hear
anything else.

So far I have not had an experience of not being able to hear
something I need to hear.

I do ride without on short rides, if only to find out what new noises
the bike is making!


Zebee

 

[Zebee Johnstone]

In aus.bicycle on 13 Sep 2006 01:05:58 GMT
Zebee Johnstone <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> I don't blot out wind noise, I have it high enough so I can hear the
> MP3 - talk, not music, I'm a BBC7 fan - rather than so I can't hear
> anything else.
>
> So far I have not had an experience of not being able to hear
> something I need to hear.

Oh, I point out that I use earplug-like earphones not the usual
earbuds.

So a lot of windnoise is cut by those and I don't need to turn the
volume up.

Zebee

 

[BT Humble]

Zebee Johnstone wrote:
> In aus.bicycle on 12 Sep 2006 16:41:58 -0700
> BT Humble <[email protected]> wrote:
> > My point was more "if you're going to grouse about pedestrians wearing
> > walkmen, apply it equally to your fellow cyclists who do." As you
> > mention below, if you turn it up to overcome the wind noise you'll be
> > blotting out a lot of other useful noises as well.
>
> I don't blot out wind noise, I have it high enough so I can hear the
> MP3 - talk, not music, I'm a BBC7 fan - rather than so I can't hear
> anything else.
>
> So far I have not had an experience of not being able to hear
> something I need to hear.
>
> I do ride without on short rides, if only to find out what new noises
> the bike is making!

*sigh*, are you willing to concede sentence #1, at least? Throw me a
bone, lady!

> > My point was more "if you're going to grouse about pedestrians wearing
> > walkmen, apply it equally to your fellow cyclists who do."


BTH

 

[Zebee Johnstone]

In aus.bicycle on 12 Sep 2006 21:06:33 -0700
BT Humble <[email protected]> wrote:
> *sigh*, are you willing to concede sentence #1, at least? Throw me a
> bone, lady!
>
>> > My point was more "if you're going to grouse about pedestrians wearing
>> > walkmen, apply it equally to your fellow cyclists who do."

Oh yes, I agree with that, but this is usenet!

Zebee

 

[Plodder]

--
Frank
[email protected]
Drop DACKS to reply
"Terryc" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:450743a7$0$4667$61c65585@un-2park-reader-01.sydney.pipenetworks.com.au.
...
> Plodder wrote:
>
> > For a long time my partner had a squeaky toy on her bars instead of a
bell.
>
> What was the squeaky toy and how did she mount it?

She had a cutesy dinosaur. She now has a bumblebee We picked them up in
Florence (Italy) a couple of years ago.

There are various types that crop up at bike shops occasionally. They come
with a handlebar mount.

BLATANT PLUG - PERSONAL INTEREST! DON'T READ IF YOU'RE GOING TO GRIPE!

I'm going through the process of buying Jet Cycles in Kelmscott WA.
Settlement is on November 1st. I'll be getting a range of the squeakies into
the shop. I'll post when I get them.

Cheers,

Frank

 

[Peter Signorini]

"BT Humble" wrote:

> My point was more "if you're going to grouse about pedestrians wearing
> walkmen, apply it equally to your fellow cyclists who do."

Yes we should. But I don't personally have any particular problem with
pedestrains using walkmen/mp3 players.

> As you
> mention below, if you turn it up to overcome the wind noise you'll be
> blotting out a lot of other useful noises as well.

No, what I said was:

>> I set off with the volume at 12 (out of 20), a moderate level. I soon
>> found
>> I needed to crank it up to about 15 to hear the music over the wind noise
>> and traffic. I could quite clearly hear all passing traffic,
>> level-crossing
>> bells and other noises, and had a chat to a fellow rider along the way.

The volume required to hear my music in no way prevented me from also
hearing the traffic. Now some may of course always set their player to
absolute full volume, but I can do without the hearing damage.

A bit of 'common sense' is needed to use aerphones while cycling, it's not
inherently unsafe.

--
Cheers
Peter

~~~ ~ _@
~~ ~ _- \,
~~ (*)/ (*)

 

[TimC]

On Mon, 11 Sep 2006 at 07:01 GMT, Terryc (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
> cfsmtb wrote:
>> fyi - from the UK. While the need for awareness and improved education
>> *should* have a higher priority, it's probably only a matter of time
>> before another pollie has a brainfart & suggests a return to flag
>> wavers walking ahead of the vehicle. Or worse.
>>
>> *********
>>
>> UK: Cyclists may be forced to ring their bells
>> By Jonathan Owen. Published: 10 September 2006
>> http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article1433446.ece
>>
>> Cyclists in busy urban areas may have to sound a bell almost
>> continually
>
> No problem. I knew that underground mine car warning hooter would just
> come in handy. Fit pulse motor to winding handle and momentary contact
> button on handlebars and they will curl up in little balls out of the
> road each time.

Mmm, air raid klaxons!

There's a few interesting "warning devices" popping up at CM rides.
Like the guy who had a forklift gas tank strapped up to his rack,
connected to a truck horn.

--
TimC
Probably best see a real doctor and not take too much diagnostic advice
from a bunch of sysadmins who consider the body a meat computer that
needs debugging. -- Anthony de Boer on possible nerve damage in ASR

 

[BT Humble]

Peter Signorini wrote:
> "BT Humble" wrote:
> > As you
> > mention below, if you turn it up to overcome the wind noise you'll be
> > blotting out a lot of other useful noises as well.
>
> No, what I said was:
>
> >> I set off with the volume at 12 (out of 20), a moderate level. I soon
> >> found
> >> I needed to crank it up to about 15 to hear the music over the wind noise
> >> and traffic. I could quite clearly hear all passing traffic,
> >> level-crossing
> >> bells and other noises, and had a chat to a fellow rider along the way.
>
> The volume required to hear my music in no way prevented me from also
> hearing the traffic. Now some may of course always set their player to
> absolute full volume, but I can do without the hearing damage.
>
> A bit of 'common sense' is needed to use aerphones while cycling, it's not
> inherently unsafe.

*sigh*, one day, someone will agree with me on Usenet...


BTH