Comment by i_am_proteus | Hacker News Reader

Comment by i_am_proteus | Hacker News Reader

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Bicycle bells are mostly for warning pedestrians when approaching from behind and passing on shared-use trails. I ride on shared infrastructure and cannot afford to build new infrastructure when my town will not. Not warning a pedestrian when approaching from behind introduces the possibility of collision if the pedestrian makes a sudden change in his walking course. I typically use this etiquette:

Passing a single pedestrian or runner on a quiet day: no bell, coasting for a short bit with a loud free hub (the rotating ratchet element on the rear wheel) alerts the pedestrian to my presence.

Passing a runner: normal ring from a distance so they have knowledge that the bicycle is passing

Passing a cyclist: one loud ring from a distance

Passing a pedestrian walking a dog: two loud rings, one far, one close, so that the pedestrian is aware of the approaching bicycle and he can prevent his dog from running at me/colliding. Many dogs do seem to enjoy a bicycle chase.

Antisocial pedestrians (i.e., walking side-by-side such as to be blocking the path in both directions, preventing the bicyclist from passing): several loud rings of the bell until the antisocial activity has abated. Announcements in my local tongue (not English) that they impede the flow of traffic.

I wonder if you are German?

Spending some time in Germany from Holland I notice there is a significant difference in cycling etiquette :)

Especially regarding “passing a cyclist” which also touches on the essential difficulty with having only one “ring” sound.

Always when Germans pass me on the bike and they ring I get slightly annoyed because I interpret it as a “get out of the way” ring, and I feel like there is enough space. But perhaps it’s just the cautious “don’t do anything unexpected” ring.

A Dutch person would rarely ring at another cyclist in the former way. But they also might be less safety focused while cycling (see also: helmet usage). Or we have safer infrastructure already.

On a road bike, however, I too ring at pedestrians “preemptively”. For sure GPs remark of “if you need to ring you’re going too fast” applies here but that’s the essence of road cycling.

Ironically I’m also annoyed when road cyclists ring at me for the same reason.

Just shows the case for having 2 clearly different types of rings.

(Also for cars to have a “thank you” horn, haha)

As a Dutch person, I experience exactly this dilemma: ringing the bell feels like telling people to get out of the way, when often there is plenty of space for me to pass through, but I know that there's a significant chance that they're going to veer into my way if they don't know I'm coming.

Of course, ringing my bell will often cause people to veer into the way, too. But then if you ring at a sufficient distance, you risk them not hearing it. Except there's no way to tell if they're not hearing it, or just consciously not veering into the way, and in the latter case, you don't want to ring again, because that will sound even more impatient.

Etiquette is hard.

(And yes, I want cars to have a bicycle bell too, so they can greet people without jump-scaring me.)

I used to slightly pull & quickly release a brake lever that made a less-annoying and less-loud "clack" noise when I wanted to be noticed but not to be annoying, generally when I knew I had no right of way but wanted to politely ask for a way around a group of people who hadn't noticed me yet.

Living now in Germany :)

I ring a very nice bell and can "mute" the bell (touching it with my hand to stop the ring just after thumbing the striker), so when ringing for information rather than hazard, it's a short quick ring, rather than a long loud ring.

Signs here alert cyclists to warn when passing, so certainly this etiquette is considered normal, but also I imagine it is not universal to all regions.

This is exactly the same thing with the car horn: in some countries it seems to be used for "hey you, unprotected person, do NOT swerve right now, I am passing you with my car" versus in Sweden where I live, your'e not allowed that usage at all.

Also in Sweden, you do only use the bell if really needed.

as someone who moved to Netherlands couple of years ago, I started to be much more annoyed by cyclist in other countries. In Netherlands if I hear ring I know I'm doing something wrong and I need to stop and pay asses whatever I'm doing right now.

In other countries rings now seem either unnecessary (they have enough space) or rude (I'm not on bike lane, why do you demand me to give you a way).

cars are typically the biggest problems and it's usually their behaviour, but I always give a friendly wave when a car yields (or even just doesn't run me over).

One small victory at a a time...

What they described is also good etiquette in the Midwestern US.

Right it has a wider non-emergency comms purpose, I do this too. But I wouldn't do it and assume they've heard or understood, and so overtake too fast on that assumption. The overtake should be safe regardless.

I hate to tell you, but you are doing it wrong

If infrastructure is shared it doesn't mean you have more rights to pass than pedestrian.

Moreover, bell as a way to warn doesn't work. Because pedestrians will mostly get startled because of it and can actually do this sudden move you are trying to make them not do.

So if you are on fast vehicle comparing to others in the same infrastructure, you need to drive in a way, that you can't be affected of sudden turn of someone in front of you. Which basically means you need to slow down or give enough space for others to do their sudden moves.

When cycling on shared use infrastructure I generally find pedestrians understand the meaning of a bell as a warning. Certainly some do become startled and move unpredictably, but if you travel at a low enough speed and bell with enough distance that this isn't an issue.

I regularly cycle on a very narrow shared use pavement which is directly beside a 40mph road. There is space to pass pedestrians, but I would consider it dangerous to try and pass without ensuring they are aware of my presence, even when passing at a walking pace.

A chime of the bell is more of a polite "I'm here" instead of a "Get out of my way!"

Where I live, there are different levels of "shared" and I would be very confused if a cyclist would just stay behind me instead of ringing the bell. It's different cultures.

shared infrastructure means exactly that.

If they're blocking a bike, they're also blocking other pedestrians. It's rude no matter what.

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