Vehicles tooting just before passing a cyclist

[Jimidh]

The cyclist equivalent is a too loud 'good morning' just before your pass another cyclist. I have one who does this to me on a fairly regular basis and I swear to god, one day...

...you might be fast enough to catch up!!

 

[byegad]

...you might be fast enough to catch up!!

No, but one day he'll miss the blind spot in my mirrors and I'll spit in his face!

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Stupid idea

 

[jefmcg]

No, but one day he'll miss the blind spot in my mirrors and I'll spit in his face!

Am I missing something. You want to spit in someone's face because they keep saying good morning to you?

 

[Nigel-YZ1]

I find an approaching car very hard not to hear - but then that's me.
I don't like the hooted warning idea.

 

[byegad]

I'm pootling along on a quiet country road and some idiot gets as close as he can to my right ear then bellows

Good Morning!

This is way too loud for such a close range, IF I see him coming up behind and he knows it, he says nothing, IF he's managed to creep up unobserved it's the bellow in my ear. I'm convinced that he does it on purpose. The volume he use would be fine for 50 yards away but f***ing stupid at close range. This is not a one off and one day I'll get him one way or another! Also if we meet heading in different directions he says nothing.

For the record I say hello to all passing fellow cyclists and nobody who answers, most do but not all, is anywhere near as loud as this twit.

 

[al78]

I don't tend to say anything. If I am on a shared use path I just wait behind pedestrians if there is no safe way to overtake, if necessary get off the bike and walk behind them. The click of unclipping sometimes alerts them to my presence and they move aside to let me past. With horse riders, I tend to maintain some distance between myself and the horse, the rider often sees me at some point, but if not, I just wait for a decent overtaking opportunity and pull right out to the right side of the road and overtake carefully. No different to when I am driving a car. In the rare situation the horse looks spooked I dismount, stand up and say something in an attempt to identify myself as a harmless human to the horse. I used to attempt to make my presence known to pedestrians with a subtle ting of the bell or a polite greeting, but found it was a waste of time, most people are wrapped up in their private universe which only extends half a meter from their body, so the greeting was mostly ignored. If they are using a smartphone, then I don't exist.

 

[albion]

Daftest thing I witnessed was a bell end ringing his bell to warn a horse (and rider ) he was behind them.

Even worse is when the rider expects you to have rung that said bell!

 

[Arjimlad]

Reading this has reminded me of Grandma & Grandpa picking me up from school. I never knew if they'd be there or not but they often used to wait for me outside school & give me a lift home. Happy times. BUT ... Grandpa ALWAYS tooted the horn when approaching cyclists from behind - i.e. my fellow pupils - he did it to warn them he was there and I suppose that they were reckless schoolkids who would weave about overtaking each other. I was so embarrassed I'd duck down in the back of the car. It was just something he did by force of habit. AFAIK he never hit a cyclist.

 

[mjr]

If I am on a shared use path I just wait behind pedestrians if there is no safe way to overtake, if necessary get off the bike and walk behind them.

Another paid-up member of the Stockholm Syndrome Cycling Club?

The click of unclipping sometimes alerts them to my presence and they move aside to let me past.

You shouldn't sneak up on people so that you're so close that they can hear your cleats click! Next you'll be saying that you just join in their conversation without warning...

I used to attempt to make my presence known to pedestrians with a subtle ting of the bell or a polite greeting, but found it was a waste of time, most people are wrapped up in their private universe which only extends half a meter from their body, so the greeting was mostly ignored. If they are using a smartphone, then I don't exist.

Doesn't it get depressing hating walkers that much?

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Even worse is when the rider expects you to have rung that said bell!

Why would they? I know of no horse rider who expects a bleeding idiot on a bike to come up behind them ringing a bell, most stupid idea I've heard all year.

 

[growingvegetables]

Why would they? I know of no horse rider who expects a bleeding idiot on a bike to come up behind them ringing a bell, most stupid idea I've heard all year.

No evidence there of having talked to horse-riders.

Fair dos. I've only had the conversation once wth a horse-rider. And, if I'm honest, was so gob-smacked at her suggestion that she'd trained her horse to recognise a bell, that her horse was happier to hear a bell, that I just couldn't think! If I'm even more honest, my main thought was "Sh!t - maybe I should put the bell back on my bike!"

But we're back to my earlier post ... I don't want to hear cyclists' thoughts. I want to hear horse-riders' thoughts.

 

[Turdus philomelos]

Personally, I hate it. I am that skittish mare.
Vehicle horns always gives me a terrible fright which could cause an accident.
With the most hellish wind noise in my ears I am aware of motorists behind.
Even electric vehicles are detectable with their unmistakable whine and the noise of their tyres on that cheap, hellish road surface councils are now throwing down everywhere on my routes.

 

[mustang1]

The only thing I'll add is quite often j can't hear a car about to overtake due to wind noise.

Edit: darnit I see someone already mentioned wind noise.

One thing I do when approaching pedestrians is pedal backwards for a second, then forward, then back, then fwd. This way the pedestrians can hear me approaching, they can tell it's a bike and they move to one side.

Sometimes pedestrians think bells are more of a demand to get out of the way... I think?

 

[screenman]

Personally, I hate it. I am that skittish mare.
Vehicle horns always gives me a terrible fright which could cause an accident.
With the most hellish wind noise in my ears I am aware of motorists behind.
Even electric vehicles are detectable with their unmistakable whine and the noise of their tyres on that cheap, hellish road surface councils are now throwing down everywhere on my routes.

On a windy headwind day can you hear a car a hundreds yards behind you, must admit that I cannot and welcome a small pip on the hooter from back there.