For whom the bell tolls

celticgooner

Hi All
I bought a cheap second hand bike a few months ago to get fit and to get college (very mature student) my last bike was in the 70's a Raleigh chopper .
My questions are is it illegal not to have a warning device like a bell etc fitted on the bike or is shouting and screaming at idiots enough, is there a cooler option? and how many broken bottles and pieces of wood does it take before the cycle lanes (if you can find them) are swept and who's supposed to do it.
Cheers

happytramp

Hmmmmm, you do NOT have to have a bell on your bike by law although strangely enough there is a law that states all bikes sold in shops must come with a bell. Weird!!

RobFowl

The "Rules of the road"

http://www.rulesoftheroad.ie/rules-for-pedestrians-cyclists-motorcyclists/cyclists/cyclists_roadworthy-bicycle.html

Your brakes, tyres, chain, lights, reflector and bell must all be in good working order.....................


Yes you are legally required to have a bell but it doesn't seem to be enforced.

Bunnyhopper

As far as I know, the only exemption is for a pedestrian controlled vehicle, so I guess if you're a POB then you don't need a bell

BostonB

celticgooner wrote: »

Hi All
I bought a cheap second hand bike a few months ago to get fit and to get college (very mature student) my last bike was in the 70's a Raleigh chopper .
My questions are is it illegal not to have a warning device like a bell etc fitted on the bike or is shouting and screaming at idiots enough, is there a cooler option? and how many broken bottles and pieces of wood does it take before the cycle lanes (if you can find them) are swept and who's supposed to do it.
Cheers

They sweep the roads, maybe use that or change your route.

I doubt there is anything less cooler than screaming and shouting.

LeoD

celticgooner wrote: »

is shouting and screaming at idiots enough

That's a great attitude to have.

seamus

celticgooner wrote: »

is shouting and screaming at idiots enough

You're wasting your breath. People never believe that they're wrong, and they'll just write you off as a crazy maniac cyclist. Until they walk out in front of the next one.
Just account for them, go around them and move on with your life. It'll keep your blood pressure lower and make you a more conscientious pedestrian. Yes bells are a legal requirement but I've never ridden with one because I would never use it. Much like a car horn, by the time you've reacted to the hazard it's going to be too late to use the bell. Or, if you're using your bell, you're wasting precious reaction time.

liamo

seamus wrote: »

Just account for them, go around them and move on with your life.

+1

As a cyclist I come across idiot peds and motorists all the time and as a motorist I despair at the complete lack of concern for their safety that some cyclists display.

I've long ago stopped beeping or shouting at these people and simply slow down or drive/cycle around them. Driving/cycling defensively and having low expectations of other road users will help keep you safe and keep your blood pressure down.

Cetyl Palmitate

I've got a bell and find it very handy at times. For example, when cycling on cycle paths which are on the same level as footpaths, some pesestrians will be walking on the cycle track without realising. A quick tinkle of your bell will have them hopping aside.
Pedestrains stepping onto a road where there are no car sounds often step out without looking, in which case a bell can make them aware of your presence.

happytramp

Bells aren't just safe they are also cool. Admit it! you ring your bell when there's nobody around to hear it just because it sounds so good!:)

Cetyl Palmitate

Cool enough to warrant carrying one while walking?? Maybe there is a gap in the market for a pedestrian bell. It's hardly fair for all the other road users to get one and for those walking to miss out......

tomasrojo

Bells are a legal requirement, so is using cycle tracks where they are provided. I don't bother with either, since they're both unenforced rules, the second of which is actually unfair

Better to say 'excuse me' politely than shout at people. More effective than a bell, I found, as when I used to use a bell, the usual reaction was resentment or ridicule.

If you find that pedestrians are wandering in front of you in such a way that you feel unsafe, you're either going too fast for the situation, or you're travelling too close to pedestrians, or both.

tomasrojo

Cetyl Palmitate wrote: »

Cool enough to warrant carrying one while walking?? Maybe there is a gap in the market for a pedestrian bell. It's hardly fair for all the other road users to get one and for those walking to miss out......

Too late.

Mint Sauce

i have not had a bell on any of my bikes since i was about 10. did try a whilstle for about a week when i was living in london, but (i) holding it in my mouth for the 5 mile commute each way was not praticle, nor was (ii) bringing it to my mouth each time i needed it, as the hazard, would be gone by the time i blew on it.

cycling defenceivly is the best way, even sometimes, and hate saying this, ocassionaly agressively, hold the place you are intitled to on the road, less likely to get pinned against railings, kerbs, cut up, all of which will still happen at times, but i find if too curtosious you'll get taken advantage off, still shout 'excuss me' for the wondering pestestians, or 'on your right' for the wobbling POBs, and all can be done without breaking the rules of the road, which is not being recommeded at all.

cdaly_

irish-stew wrote: »

hate saying this, ocassionaly agressively,

Assertively, not agressively. Take your line on the road, signal clearly and in good time and clear the way once you're past the hazard. I do this all the time and pretty much always end up with the space I need and no beeping of horns or agressive responses from drivers.

BostonB

I use a bell which I find most people react well too, and will make way. Often they can't hear you anyway, so you just have to use common sense and scoot around them.

Mint Sauce

cdaly_ wrote: »

Assertively, not agressively. Take your line on the road, signal clearly and in good time and clear the way once you're past the hazard. I do this all the time and pretty much always end up with the space I need and no beeping of horns or agressive responses from drivers.

prehaps a better describtion

Blowfish

RobFowl wrote: »

The "Rules of the road"

http://www.rulesoftheroad.ie/rules-for-pedestrians-cyclists-motorcyclists/cyclists/cyclists_roadworthy-bicycle.html

Your brakes, tyres, chain, lights, reflector and bell must all be in good working order.....................


Yes you are legally required to have a bell but it doesn't seem to be enforced.

Actually, that isn't necessarily true, or is at the very least incomplete.

From S.I. No. 190/1963:

93. (1) Every pedal cycle (other than a cycle constructed or adapted for use as a racing cycle) while used in a public place shall be fitted with an audible warning device consisting of a bell capable of being heard at a reasonable distance, and no other type of audible warning instrument shall be fitted to a pedal cycle while used in a public place.

Roadies ftw!

manwithaplan

I see the rationale for a bell. I understand that a quick tinkle can be of use now and again. Why is it then that when I hear one, I can't suppress the subconscious judgement "gob****e"?

BostonB

Blowfish wrote: »

Actually, that isn't necessarily true, or is at the very least incomplete.

From S.I. No. 190/1963:
Roadies ftw!

Good find!

BeerNut

manwithaplan wrote: »

Why is it then that when I hear one, I can't suppress the subconscious judgement "gob****e"?

Because not enough people use them. In Amsterdam, the sound of a bike bell means "get out of the way or you'll be mown down". I use mine to help encourage a similar pavlovian reaction among the peds of Dublin.

yogipear

I use an AirZound air horn. A friend told me about them. I got it for about €15 online. It is rated at 115db so i usually only use it if a motorist doesn't see me and is about to hit me. Or if there is a no. ped on cycle path with their back to me and the head wind is too strong for the bell.
you refill the horn using a standard pump so it's a once off expense,

manwithaplan

yogipear wrote: »

I use an AirZound air horn. A friend told me about them. I got it for about €15 online. It is rated at 115db so i usually only use it if a motorist doesn't see me and is about to hit me. Or if there is a no. ped on cycle path with their back to me and the head wind is too strong for the bell.
you refill the horn using a standard pump so it's a once off expense,

You are joking, right?

If a motorist is about to hit me, I am too busy getting out of the way to worry about my vuvuzela (stop sniggering down the back). I hate pedestrians as much as the next man (except when I am one) but I find my tubercular cough tends to wake them up.

At least a bell is a throwback to the more graceful days of pedal power (Hello vicar! Nice day for it).

BostonB

yogipear wrote: »

I use an AirZound air horn. A friend told me about them. I got it for about €15 online. It is rated at 115db so i usually only use it if a motorist doesn't see me and is about to hit me. Or if there is a no. ped on cycle path with their back to me and the head wind is too strong for the bell.
you refill the horn using a standard pump so it's a once off expense,

did you read this...

...no other type of audible warning instrument shall be fitted to a pedal cycle while used in a public place...

I'd love to hear the AirZound though. Whats it like?

Doctor Bob

BeerNut wrote: »

In Amsterdam, the sound of a bike bell means "get out of the way or you'll be mown down". I use mine to help encourage a similar pavlovian reaction among the peds of Dublin.

Interesting cultural phenomenon: y'know those electric golf cart yokes they use in airports for carrying mobility-impaired passengers, large bags, etc.? In most airports, they announce their presence with that annoying, high-pitched beep...beep...beep sound. In Copenhagen airport, the carts use bike bells. Not only is it a much less bothersome sound, I think it also tells you just how much cycling is integrated into the fabric of society over there, i.e. people instinctively know what the sound means.

yogipear

I agree with you if i can get out of the way i will but if i can't a blast of the horn can be a life saver.

Traffic merging from the left. Motorists doesn't see the cyclist. i can't move to the right if i have cars on my right overtaking. Quick blast to let them know there is a cyclist in their blind spot as they start to drift over.
If a car pulls out infront of me from a side road i will be too busy braking to push the button for the horn.

It sounds like an air horn from a truck.

muckwarrior

When I was a kid I had a lamp on my bike with an integrated electric horn. It was pretty feckin loud too.

tfrancer

Bought one of these some time ago:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/MKS_Titanium_Racing_Bell/5360043405/

Having paid that much for a bell, I feel I have to use it.