Bells

[Cyril Haearn]

If the bell law was serious then headphones would need to be banned

We'd also need to ban deaf people, of course.

And gossiping people so deeply into their own conversations.

I've had to ring and ring and shout and shout before one couple of mature ladies out for a communal power walk. The only power activity was talking. I've been stuck behind them a few times unable to get past other times I've just got tired of waiting I just close passed them. If they'd given me grief I was fully prepared to argue my pov. They didn't even notice me passing!

A drrring bell is the thing
I hate it when they part right and left, expecting one to go through the middle
Groups of joggers are the worst

[Tangled Metal]

Dog walkers with extending leads. Human goes one way, dog goes the other with a lead across the path.

Two walkers covering the whole canal towpath except for a bike width right on the edge of the canal. Do you take that option or get even louder to move the walkers? Bell hasn't worked. Will the voice work?

[Bez]

I hate it when they part right and left, expecting one to go through the middle
Groups of joggers are the worst

You hate it when you make a noise and expect people to get out of your way, and they have the temerity to respond to your noise by attempting to get out of your way?

That must be awful.

What would you do if I were to drive behind you honking my horn at you?

[Bez]

Bell hasn't worked. Will the voice work?

FWIW I've never had a problem with "morning; sorry, could I squeeze past?"

If I'm on foot I always interpret a bell as "out of my way, foot person! I have a bicycle!"

YMMV and I know from previous threads many people's M does V

[Cyril Haearn]

I hate it when they part right and left, expecting one to go through the middle
Groups of joggers are the worst

You hate it when you make a noise and expect people to get out of your way, and they have the temerity to respond to your noise by attempting to get out of your way?

That must be awful.

What would you do if I were to drive behind you honking my horn at you?

When some of a group go left and some right and they expect me to squeeze through the middle, that is disagreeable, when walking in a group all should move to the same side to keep a safe distance (2m?)
I am glad to slow right down or stop for dogs or children
I obey the law and "expect" (require?) others to do so too

[Bez]

I obey the law and "expect" (require?) others to do so too

The law in this case being what, exactly?

[Cyril Haearn]

I obey the law and "expect" (require?) others to do so too

The law in this case being…?

I am thinking of shared towpaths
Not endangering others, keeping left or right as appropriate, waiting/stopping if necessary, friendly use of drrrriinng bell (not loud)
I have lots of friendly encounters with PoFs + PwDs (people with dogs)

[mjr]

FWIW I've never had a problem with "morning; sorry, could I squeeze past?"

If I'm on foot I always interpret a bell as "out of my way, foot person! I have a bicycle!"

YMMV and I know from previous threads many people's M does V

Why do you persist in misinterpreting it like that despite all the previous threads explaining to the contrary that it's just a way not to sneak up on people?

And good luck saying anything next to a nine-lane road loud enough to be heard without it being interpreted as an aggressive shout!

[Cyril Haearn]

Time for a poll? I wonder whether fitting two bells would be best

[Bez]

And good luck saying anything next to a nine-lane road loud enough to be heard without it being interpreted as an aggressive shout!

To be fair I don't think I've ever come across a nine lane road in this country other than the M25 or maybe some other similarly large motorway.

Anyway, to me a bell demands a reaction. It's someone saying they're coming and they expect me to move for them, rather than slowing to pass me. How do you interpret someone in a car behind honking their horn as they approach? Rhetorical question, really, since we've done this before

[Cyril Haearn]

I do not cycle on the road
When driving, if the driver behind me blows her horn or flashes her lights (danger warning) I slow down of course

[Bez]

I'm struggling to relate to (a) the expectation that people on a towpath should achieve a collective consciousness whereby they all decide in unison to move to either the left or the right, and (b) the calm acceptance of someone honking their horn from behind, and (c) interpreting that honking as a request to go more slowly.

Maybe it's just me

[Cyril Haearn]

Cycle on the right, walk on the left or vice-versa per HC

Horn or flashing lights may only be used to warn of danger. If they are used to try to bully one into going faster it is best to slow down

Maybe its just me

[Bez]

Cycle on the right, walk on the left or vice-versa per HC

Let's expand your "vice versa" to a fully explicit statement: "Cycle on the right, walk on the left or cycle on the left, walk on the right." So… either side, then? Yet you still expect people on an off-road towpath to move the same way as each other?

Even if a towpath constitutes the public highway, the HC says of unsegregated walking and cycling paths: "[Cyclists should] Take care when passing pedestrians, especially children, older or disabled people, and allow them plenty of room. Always be prepared to slow down and stop if necessary."

Nothing about "if you hear a bell everyone jump to the left".

And it's not law anyway. Just advice. Which, realistically, few reasonable people would even think applies to canal paths, many of which display signage advising those on bikes to give way to those on foot.

[Bez]

Horn or flashing lights may only be used to warn of danger.

Except—rightly or wrongly—they're both far, far more commonly used for completely different purposes.