A very loud car horn for bikes

Cabaal

seems to date back to 1963

https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2019/0524/1051381-cycling/

Outdated, a bell is fine for pedestrians and I have one on the bike anyway. But its useless with anything else.

What I find interesting is this https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/travel-and-recreation/cycling/cycling-offences/

n addition to lights, your bike must also have:

• A bell, which can be heard from a reasonable distance

In a busy city environment you could certainly argue that a bell most certainly can't be heard from a reasonable distance.

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121461526#Comment_121461526

Exempt if your bike is adapted for racing. What type of racing etc. is thankfully not gone into in any detail but a good one to know should you get stopped and asked by a member of the AGS or a "concerned" citizen.

I have actually had someone give out to me for no bell after they gave out they couldn't speed to a red light because I was there.

Paddigol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121461323#Comment_121461323

By the same logic pedestrians should have horns?

It's a false equivalence. The reasons why horns were developed for cars is very different to the arguments for their use on bikes. Cars are bigger, faster, less manoeuvrable, with a smaller field of vision and capable much greater destruction in the event of a collision. Or to flip the argument - by the same logic bikes should carry reg plates and require insurance.

I've never wished I had a horn on my bike. I've one collision with a car and one near collision. In neither case would a horn (or a bell for that matter) have made any difference. And the vast majority of horn use by motorists is really just misuse - the punishment beep/ bullying beep/ f**k you beep.

Seth Brundle

I've found the specific legislation thanks to the above posts, thanks...

The reason I wanted to check (and has since been pointed out) was that the likes of my Garmin computer and my Cycliq cameras make an audible warning notification beep which if I were to fit onto my hybrid would potentially put me foul of the law (were someone to be that anal about it). Maybe I should make it a racing hybrid 🤔

https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1963/si/190/made/en/print#article93

AndrewJRenko

I can see the merit in loud horns, such as the one used by Vine in this case;

https://twitter.com/i/status/1731689894202781933

Wishbone Ash

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121461363#Comment_121461363

SI 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.

EDIT: Apologies - I see now that it has already been answered.

o1s1n

I wonder would a bit of a loop hole be fitting the electronic bell to yourself rather than the 'pedal cycle'?

It doesn't specifically say you cannot use an electronic horn, it just says you can't have one fitted to your bike when you're using it in a public space.

getoutadodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/112008585#Comment_112008585

really?

getoutadodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/112009143#Comment_112009143

With cars in extreme cases I find a kick works quite well but .....sparingly i.e. only when absolutely necessary. Trucks and buses are another level. You can only lose life or limb.

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121481315#Comment_121481315

I've been half tempted to do that myself a few times with cars but am always afraid I'll inadvertently manage to destabilise myself and come off the bike in a hilarious own goal 😁

Some of the horns I hear on escooters aren't too offensive, more of Road Runner type 'MEEP MEEP' than a ground rumbling air horn.

Cabaal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121462632#Comment_121462632

Thats an AirZound horn which I had, from experience it stops cars in their tracks the majority of the time.

rflynnr

My tuppence worth. Without in any way gainsaying Cabaal's experience, I "ran" an Airzound 2 for a while about two decades ago. This was during a period. when my daily commute took me through Dublin city centre. It WAS satisfyingly loud when the air pressure was at peak and it certainly caught the attention of drivers. And yet I eventually put it away.

Why?

1. Because it was "one more thing" to add to/remove from the bike every time I got on or off. And it was another thing to carry around with me while I was off the bike. It weighed virtually nothing but it was a bit awkward. And it just became a bit of a chore.
2. I never encountered a situation where the Airzound made a meaningful contribution to my safety. On the few occasions where it might have made a difference it was quicker and easier to simply move out of the danger zone. (I recognise that there might be situations where such evasive manoeuvres are not an option but I personally never experienced this.)

In practice my recourse to the Airzound typically came after an incident and was primarily used as a way of expressing frustration. Indeed the whole experience made me reflect on how horns are used by traffic in general. There are situations where the horn is used to alert other road users to oncoming danger but I'd unscientifically guess that 90%-plus of the time they're just expressions of anger. (Again, I'm not suggesting this is true of Cabaal or anyone else on this forum - I just don't know.) And, equipping a bike with a tool for expressing anger only seemed likely to inflame an already fraught environment where cyclists are cheek-by-jowl with tons of metal on wheels driven by hemmed-in and often frustrated occupants. For me (and again, just for me) there were enough horns in that environment. As a cyclist I had other - and for me, better - options.

cletus

In terms of car horns (and to echo rflynnr), I remember being told years ago, if you have time to beep the horn, you have time to react to what it is your beeping at.

I'd imagine the same applies on the bike

Paddigol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121492652#Comment_121492652

That's a much better summary of what I was trying to get at.

o1s1n

Yeah I don't think it'll make much difference to those snap decision crisis management type things you need to do on a bike, you'd just have no time and I agree, they'd probably be used more to vent your anger.

But I do think it would be useful for those instances where you can see something happening a little bit out and want to alert drivers to your presence.

For example (one I have happen regularly!), you've a green light approaching an intersection and are going straight through.

You see ahead of you on the other side of the road that cars are sitting, waiting to turn right across your path.

As there are no cars ahead of you, the cars waiting to turn think the way is clear and start their turn. There's enough time here as you approach the intersection to let out a few beeps to say 'HEY, I'M HERE!'

Or those situations where you're cycling along with a bus to your right and he just decides to start pulling in to a stop as if you don't exist. Beeping there would be very useful too. I'm not sure if a bus driver can quite hear yelling over the bus engine.