Other Road Users Coming Too Close

Norman_Castle

I use a bell partly to give sour pedestrians one less thing to complain about .
I'm never pushy around pedestrians and normally get a good response to a friendly smile. I fully sympathise with the op and find cyclist passing too close or at speed very annoying.

Cycrow

Marco_Panettone wrote: »

Use a bell in plenty of time. Slow down. Give vulnerable road users more space. Just like we ask drivers to do for us. It's not that hard.

The problem is, too many pedestrians just hear a bell and try to jump out of the way, but they dont actually look where is safe.

too many people take a bell as "Get out of my way" rather than a warning that you are coming up behind.

I was actually riding on the road one day and accidentally hit the bell. There was a group of pedestrians walking on the pavement and jumped into the road on hearing the bell. Thankfully that was just a one off

GwylimT

Where I live the pavements are quite wide and they have been split in half, one half is for pedestrians the other for cyclists, there is a cycle symbol on the cycle side around every 50 feet they are quite frequent.

The cycle side always has pedestrians on it who often get a bit arsey when you ring your bell or shout excuse me, if you are riding towards them it is okay as they have time to get onto the pedestrian side of the pavement, however if you shout excuse me from behind or ring your bell people either don't react, jump randomly to the left or right or they are rude. So the cycle paths are completely pointless as to use them you spend quite a lot of time walking alongside your bike.

We have some cycle lanes marked out on our roads, they are solid cycle lines where vehicles are not allowed to park, despite this they do and so it is completely useless as you cannot physically use it, which is a shame because well thought out cycle lanes are fantastic.

Marco_Panettone

Using a bell/horn/shouting doesn't give you right of way or priority. It's an audible signal that you're there. If people haven't heard you, or ignore you it still doesn't put you in the right. Pedestrians ALWAYS have priority. Even if they're walking in a bike lane. Most of the time 'two tings' will alert the other party to your presence, but you MUST be travelling slowly enough that they have the time to react, and you have time to react to their decision. Always thank people for moving for you, and just be generally cheery - it goes a long way to reducing any potential aggro.

When there are pedestrians around SLOW DOWN - it makes everyone's journey easier and safer. You might lose 30 seconds of your life to it, but what were you planning to use those few seconds for anyway?

Strider590

Cycrow wrote: »

The problem is, too many pedestrians just hear a bell and try to jump out of the way, but they dont actually look where is safe.

too many people take a bell as "Get out of my way" rather than a warning that you are coming up behind.

I was actually riding on the road one day and accidentally hit the bell. There was a group of pedestrians walking on the pavement and jumped into the road on hearing the bell. Thankfully that was just a one off

Precisely, just as car drivers always seem to take the horn as being aggressive, when in fact it's supposed to be used to "warn others of your presence".

When driving I sometimes use it approaching junctions if the driver waiting does not look in my direction OR if I see a car full of people unloading on "my" side of the road, just in case one of the kids swings open a door without looking. I once used it because someone was blindly reversing off their driveway, only to have said person chase me for next 2 miles.

Usually only come across them on canal toe paths, but on bike I much prefer to make a subtle noise when approaching pedestrians, change up/down a few gears, or lock the rear wheel for a split second (obviously at a good distance).

Cycrow

Marco_Panettone wrote: »

Using a bell/horn/shouting doesn't give you right of way or priority. It's an audible signal that you're there. If people haven't heard you, or ignore you it still doesn't put you in the right. Pedestrians ALWAYS have priority. Even if they're walking in a bike lane. Most of the time 'two tings' will alert the other party to your presence, but you MUST be travelling slowly enough that they have the time to react, and you have time to react to their decision. Always thank people for moving for you, and just be generally cheery - it goes a long way to reducing any potential aggro.

When there are pedestrians around SLOW DOWN - it makes everyone's journey easier and safer. You might lose 30 seconds of your life to it, but what were you planning to use those few seconds for anyway?

I think you're misunderstanding whats being said. No ones said that ringing the bells gives you the right of way.
Its that ringing a bell can cause accidents as it seems to scare many pedestrians.

In my example, why should have i had to slow down when i was passing pedestrians, that would just be silly, cars dont do it, so why should cyclists

Idiophreak

Interesting topic...Today I went for a run early morning, when there were lots more cycle commuters on the roads than I usually see.

Most of the route, there are mixed use cycle/foot paths on both sides of the road, plus a bus/cycle lane...Jogging to one side on the path I had a couple of bell ringers at a good distance, which was fine. I had to stop to let them past (the paths are too narrow for 2 people to pass comfortably), which is a bit annoying when there's a massive bus/cycle lane a foot to their right, but that's life.

I also had a couple of cyclists try and squeeze past at speed with no kind of announcement that they were there, which is a bit stupid and scary for all concerned...but I guess they were too cool to keep the bell that came with their bike. I really don't understand why, if they're such fast cyclists they can't slow down to pass a pedestrian, they don't just use the bus/cycle lane which doesn't stop every 50 yards for sideroads like the path does.

And, it's worthy of note, that it works both ways.

I was running on a narrow footpath the other day (with traffic on the road) and startled an old lady slightly as I ran past her (and said "hello") as she was setting off on her bike. I felt quite bad about it, but I guess it could be argued that she shouldn't be riding her bike down a narrow footpath in the first place, especially if she's got that nervous a disposition.

WiggyDiggyPoo

How do you ring your bell and from where?

This is something to consider as a slow Ping...........................Ping from 30-40ft back seems to work very well, as does a little wave and a thank you. That is definitely interpreted as a 'hello I'm here' warning, and sometimes if they look at little suprised I tend to add 'just lettin you know I'm here' or 'take your time' if they have kids/dogs...

You get numpty's on foot, on bikes or in cars it cant be avoided, just dealt with better. Most people are just trying to get where they are going safely and without aggro, and are happy to share whatever space there is.

ILW

GwylimT wrote: »

Where I live the pavements are quite wide and they have been split in half, one half is for pedestrians the other for cyclists, there is a cycle symbol on the cycle side around every 50 feet they are quite frequent.

The cycle side always has pedestrians on it who often get a bit arsey when you ring your bell or shout excuse me, if you are riding towards them it is okay as they have time to get onto the pedestrian side of the pavement, however if you shout excuse me from behind or ring your bell people either don't react, jump randomly to the left or right or they are rude. So the cycle paths are completely pointless as to use them you spend quite a lot of time walking alongside your bike.

We have some cycle lanes marked out on our roads, they are solid cycle lines where vehicles are not allowed to park, despite this they do and so it is completely useless as you cannot physically use it, which is a shame because well thought out cycle lanes are fantastic.

I find it easier to ride on the road most of the time. Pedestrians are worse than drivers.

Strider590

ILW wrote: »

I find it easier to ride on the road most of the time. Pedestrians are worse than drivers.

Of a certain age, yes (but then applies to drivers too), so I guess not...... Some people, once they have left the world of work, I think the everyday boredom turns them into arrogant vigilantes. They'll run over a cyclist in their car just as quickly as they'd stop you on the path and attack you with an umbrella or walking stick.

And of course there are those that don't work "middle aged housewives", who have delusions of superiority over just about everyone else.

Two types of people to avoid, whether your on a shared path or on the road they can be extremely dangerous to cyclists.