Think of it as my own version of the noise emitting devices on EVs. On the one hand I kind of feel like a dick but on the other hand I still make much less noise than a car and there's no other way of people knowing I'm there when they don't have LOS.
I'd like to emphasize that the music is not that loud - when I'm close to a car I can barely hear it.
I really think a bike bell should be sufficient for your needs. A card in your wheel spokes would also get the job done and be a lot less obnoxious than music.
I do have a bell. It's useful. But when someone pops out of between two cars there's nothing a bell can do.
Pedestrians need to notice me because a lot of people walk on bike paths and because a lot of people jaywalk. Since I'm much closer to the parked cars and much smaller than cars they're going to realize there's no cars, think it's all clear, and when they advance I'll be there. It happened to me often.
It's not loud enough that people on the sidewalk will hear me clearly - in traffic I often can't even distinguish my own music - but people that are on my way or about to walk in front of me will notice and that's good enough.
Also in my city when there's an underpass the law is to go on the sidewalk, so I like to be noticed by pedestrians so they know I'm here without ringing my bike bell non-stop or speaking to everyone and trying to get them to notice me.
I wonder if there’s some happy medium - some noise that the bike could make periodically that’s less annoying than blaring music, but also doesn’t require you to actively initiate it.
With a bike travelling at say ~10mph the noise is out of earshot in a few seconds.
It is on you to ride defensively and make sure you are on an appropriate speed to avoid accidents with pedestrians, not on them to avoid you.
> when there's an underpass the law is to go on the sidewalk
So, get off the bike and walk.
>So, get off the bike and walk
I am not supposed to and I frankly just don't have the time to walk every time there is an underpass, and there are 6 on the way to my university.
I think I'm very different from those car drivers because I'm not endangering or pushing away anyone, or being aggressive.
I haven't made any judgments of value, mind you. I'm just saying that this is the only way I have of averting this issue.
Unlike cars, bikes are very quiet and if a pedestrian comes out jaywalking from between parked cars, the biker might not have enough time to react and ring their bell.
By the time a bell rings, the collision is imminent. Music can be heard from far enough that a jaywalker can avoid the collision path preemptively.
I certainly agree that ebikes can sneak up on you. Personally though, I would give up riding a bike if I had to use a fairly loud white noise generator.
Nature sounds would be good for humans, but they might be disruptive to the fauna. Perhaps there's something that can be done about that though.
Whether phone speakers are good enough to replicate that experience, however, I’m not sure.