Electric 'car' fright

Commuting, Day rides, Audax, Incidents, etc.
reohn2
Posts: 45158
Joined: 26 Jun 2009, 8:21pm

Re: Electric 'car' fright

Post by reohn2 »

MikeF wrote:What's the point of shouting?? What is your aversion to a bell?? It's many times more audible than shouting and used properly it should rarely startle anyone. If you used a bell on shared use paths you'd realise that it can be heard (by most people anyway) at a considerable distance. I find it advantageous; it gives people 10secs or so warning (and me time to slow or react if they are deaf). How much warning does your shouting give them?? What's more, people very frequently thank or acknowledge the use of a bell.

(Never use it near a horse rider though, but then I see idiot cyclists racing by equestrians with disregard to anyone's safety.)


I've had negative reactions to a bell,and on two occasions having had to move my hand away from the brake to use it(drops),almost couldn't stop even though I was going slowly at the time.
That's why I removed it.
I find the vast majority of people are open to the human voice and more often than not I'm thanked for slowing down and letting people know of my presence with an ''excuse me'' or ''could I get past please'' or even ''ding ding'',of course you can't please all the people all the time and occasionally I have someone ask where's your bell,even though they've heard me speak,to which I usually stop and explain that I don't need one if they can hear my voice.
I try to be courteous and slow down for pedestrians and always alert horseriders to my presence in good time from a distance with a friendly shout of ''hello cyclist'',giving them plenty of space when passing,which I'm always thanked for,as someone posted up thread,horseriders tend to be courteous bunch.
The people who don't hear my shouts are usually iPod wearers,gaggles of school children otherwise occupied,and older couples occasionally all of which need extra care until I'm sure they're aware of my presence.
Occassionally some people are I'm sure deliberately obtuse,I've experienced this even when using a bell,though I can't prove it of course. groups of walkers(boots,rucsacks) spring to mind.
One group sticks in mind(all male fifties/sixties) as I approached from behind on a wide stoned up bridleway,I slowed and asked could I pass from about 5m,no response,again a little louder,a third time one of them turned around and said ''one of us could be deaf'' which seemed a strange response,but I thought I'd play along.I stopped and asked if they were all deaf,no was the answer,''well if one of you is deaf or hearing impaired,it would be a good walking companion and friend who would alert him to a cyclists presence'' this seemed to dumbfound them.It was clear they were just being deliberately obstructive.
Last week I was on a forest road approaching two young mothers with buggies walking side by side toward me,from a distance of 30m+ shouted ding ding,to which they singled out and allowed me to pass,I passed by at <8mph to which one of them said ''you should have a bell'' I responded with a spoken ''ding ding'' and said you must have heard me you moved over to allow me to pass.
No response.
Both these altercations,and other similar ones have been where MTBing is popular and having had an MTBer whizz passed from behind with inches to spare without a word,and similarly so when mending a puncture on a canal towpath,if this is the norm on these paths I can understand people being a bit put out to an extent,but as is the case with the ''all cyclists RLJ'' attitude,not all cyclists are reckless around pedestrians and other path users.
That said,overwhelmingly people are friendly and react positively to the human voice.

BTW, there's shouting and raising the voice in a friendly manner,I prefer the latter.
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"All we are not stares back at what we are"
W H Auden
Mark1978
Posts: 4912
Joined: 17 Jul 2012, 8:47am
Location: Chester-le-Street, County Durham

Re: Electric 'car' fright

Post by Mark1978 »

I met a horse coming the other way along a country lane, I'd noticed it about half a mile away so I'd already slowed down from doing about 20mph, and approached slowly, the horse started veering to one side, so I stopped. It was at that point the rider asked me to slow down - not sure how I could slow down from a stopped position. She then managed to wrestle the horse into line declaring "he doesn't like cyclists!". That particular lane is a popular cycling route so she may want to rethink using it!
Ben@Forest
Posts: 3647
Joined: 28 Jan 2013, 5:58pm

Re: Electric 'car' fright

Post by Ben@Forest »

Firstly I should say that 99% of the time I have no problem with horse riders though I was a bit nonplussed the time was was slowly riding towards a horse and rider and the woman exhorted me 'Talk to him then! Show him you're a human being!'. But I like another story from another another cyclist, who told me when on one ride he was told not to shout so loud as he came up behind a horse rider, later on the same ride and moderating his tone he was admonished by another horse rider for not giving a loud enough warning. Can't do right for doing wrong...
kwackers
Posts: 15643
Joined: 4 Jun 2008, 9:29pm
Location: Warrington

Re: Electric 'car' fright

Post by kwackers »

Ben@Forest wrote:But I like another story from another another cyclist, who told me when on one ride he was told not to shout so loud as he came up behind a horse rider, later on the same ride and moderating his tone he was admonished by another horse rider for not giving a loud enough warning. Can't do right for doing wrong...

When you are being told off from either side of the fence then the balance is 'just right'... :wink:
reohn2
Posts: 45158
Joined: 26 Jun 2009, 8:21pm

Re: Electric 'car' fright

Post by reohn2 »

Mark1978 wrote:I met a horse coming the other way along a country lane, I'd noticed it about half a mile away so I'd already slowed down from doing about 20mph, and approached slowly, the horse started veering to one side, so I stopped. It was at that point the rider asked me to slow down - not sure how I could slow down from a stopped position. She then managed to wrestle the horse into line declaring "he doesn't like cyclists!". That particular lane is a popular cycling route so she may want to rethink using it!


This story reminds me of a border collie on a lead in Barnstaple town centre,that took a snap at my two year old granddaughter in her buggy,as I pushed her past it.
The owner informed me that ''he doesn't like people'',she didn't like my solution to the dog's problem.
If animals don't like something it's because they aren't trained well enough,in the case of the dog it should either be trained,muzzled or put down.
People are everywhere.
In the case of the horse it shouldn't be on the road if it can't be kept under control.
-----------------------------------------------------------
"All we are not stares back at what we are"
W H Auden
MikeF
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Joined: 11 Nov 2012, 9:24am
Location: On the borders of the four South East Counties

Re: Electric 'car' fright

Post by MikeF »

reohn2 wrote:I've had negative reactions to a bell,and on two occasions having had to move my hand away from the brake to use it(drops),almost couldn't stop even though I was going slowly at the time.

I've never had a negative reaction from using a bell on shared paths - it's usually very positive. As I've said before, with 50yds/10secs warning there is plenty of time for you or them to react. Of course "you don't win 'em all" so you need to be prepared.
Not sure why were you ringing a bell and going slowly. Bells - even single pings - are easily audible for most people from 50yds on rural routes. With experimentation you can test just how far away people can hear one. :wink:
"It takes a genius to spot the obvious" - my old physics master.
I don't peddle bikes.
reohn2
Posts: 45158
Joined: 26 Jun 2009, 8:21pm

Re: Electric 'car' fright

Post by reohn2 »

MikeF wrote:I've never had a negative reaction from using a bell on shared paths - it's usually very positive. As I've said before, with 50yds/10secs warning there is plenty of time for you or them to react. Of course "you don't win 'em all" so you need to be prepared.
Not sure why were you ringing a bell and going slowly. Bells - even single pings - are easily audible for most people from 50yds on rural routes. With experimentation you can test just how far away people can hear one. :wink:


After using both I prefer,for everyone's benefit,using my voice :)
-----------------------------------------------------------
"All we are not stares back at what we are"
W H Auden
kwackers
Posts: 15643
Joined: 4 Jun 2008, 9:29pm
Location: Warrington

Re: Electric 'car' fright

Post by kwackers »

If I'm far enough away I use the bell - it seems to trigger a "was that a bike bell?" response causing them to turn and look then move out of the way.
If it doesn't work or I'm too close then I slow down and go for a polite "excuse me".
mike_dowler
Posts: 102
Joined: 21 Aug 2013, 1:39pm

Re: Electric 'car' fright

Post by mike_dowler »

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