Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee

[Mick F]

I was riding one day and I rang my bell as I approached a pedestrian from behind.
I rang and rang and rang and rang!
Eventually, the lady turned round and said, "I wondered what that ringing noise was."

[Cowsham]

I'm going to walk behind someone along a shared path with a cycle bell, ring it, hide it in my pocket and pretend I heard nothing.

[Mike Sales]

I was riding one day and I rang my bell as I approached a pedestrian from behind.
I rang and rang and rang and rang!
Eventually, the lady turned round and said, "I wondered what that ringing noise was."

I used to carry an aerosol driven boat fog horn. I never used it on an oblivious pedestrian, it would be too aggressive, but I imagine it would have been effective!
It outraged some drivers when I replied to their toot, which is a demonstration of their idea of road hierarchy.

[mjr]

Bell first then, if no response, a friendly “morning(afternoon/evening), bike coming through”.

Similar here, although I tend to say "may I pass?" rather than "bike coming through". Walkers always have priority, even if they should not obstruct unnecessarily.

I voted "Bell only" because I do that first and if it's not heard, I still don't shout, although I do have to speak pretty loud sometimes to be heard over motorists.

[mjr]

On the rare occasions when I deem it necessary, I will shout, "passing on your right" or whatever else is appropriate.

But I wouldn't know who Anya Wright is, nor how you can mistake me for her...

[mjr]

Personally, I regard approaching a pedestrian just ringing your bell to be very rude and when on foot and on the receiving end of it, I just maintain a straight line and ignore. I would never do this, much preferring a cheerful “Goodmorning/ afternoon,

Whereas I regard sneaking up behind someone and saying "Good morning/afternoon" as far ruder, whether you are on a bike, foot, scooter, whatever. You could give someone a heart attack like that and will often provoke a fight-or-flight reaction.

[pete75]

Highway Code rule H2 - Cyclists should give way to pedestrians on shared use cycle tracks.

I don't think this includes making one or more noises to get them to move out of your way.

[Nearholmer]

Which poses questions about the span of application of the Highway Code. When is a shared-use path not part of a highway?

Here’s the relevant part from the guidance for our hundreds of miles of shared-use paths locally:

“Take care when passing other people, slow down, allow plenty of room and use a polite audible method to signal your approach.”

[mjr]

Highway Code rule H2 - Cyclists should give way to pedestrians on shared use cycle tracks.

I don't think this includes making one or more noises to get them to move out of your way.

Not in that exact rule, but if you read beyond the first section, you'll find rule 63 tells cyclists to "let them [pedestrians and horse riders] know you are there; for example, by ringing your bell (it is recommended that a bell is fitted to your bike), or by calling out politely." Silently stalking them is against the code!

And it tells walkers "keep to the right-hand side [...] be prepared to walk in single file [...] Cyclists should respect your safety (see Rule 62) but you should also take care not to obstruct or endanger them."

Personally, I would have added "unnecessarily" to "obstruct" (with slight rephrasing), but I told the DfT during the consultation and they seem to have decided not to.

[pete75]

Highway Code rule H2 - Cyclists should give way to pedestrians on shared use cycle tracks.

I don't think this includes making one or more noises to get them to move out of your way.

Not in that exact rule, but if you read beyond the first section, you'll find rule 63 tells cyclists to "let them [pedestrians and horse riders] know you are there; for example, by ringing your bell (it is recommended that a bell is fitted to your bike), or by calling out politely." Silently stalking them is against the code!

And it tells walkers "keep to the right-hand side [...] be prepared to walk in single file [...] Cyclists should respect your safety (see Rule 62) but you should also take care not to obstruct or endanger them."

Personally, I would have added "unnecessarily" to "obstruct" (with slight rephrasing), but I told the DfT during the consultation and they seem to have decided not to.

Pedestrians shouldn't obstruct cyclists yet the cyclist should give way to pedestrians. If the latter has to happen doesn't that mean the cyclist is being obstructed.
The hierarchy of users almost seems to have been developed as a separate set of rules rather than be incorporated throughout the code.

To my mind your unnecessarily appears to be necessary.

[mjr]

Pedestrians shouldn't obstruct cyclists yet the cyclist should give way to pedestrians. If the latter has to happen doesn't that mean the cyclist is being obstructed.

Hopefully thirdcrank or someone will be along to tell us more detail, but I think obstruction would be something more and longer-lasting than a group simply using the full width of the highway until another vehicle approaches.

[Psamathe]

Highway Code rule H2 - Cyclists should give way to pedestrians on shared use cycle tracks.

I don't think this includes making one or more noises to get them to move out of your way.

Not in that exact rule, but if you read beyond the first section, you'll find rule 63 tells cyclists to "let them [pedestrians and horse riders] know you are there; for example, by ringing your bell (it is recommended that a bell is fitted to your bike), or by calling out politely." Silently stalking them is against the code!...

You raise an interesting aspect: Horses. Whilst I call-out but do have a bell, if approaching a horse from behind I wonder if a bell is a bit of a "harsh" noise and might spook some horses.

I pass a fair number of horses and most are OK but some I think should not be on the roads (or maybe it was their 1st time and every horse has a 1st time and not for me to say who should and shouldn't be on the roads). I find I can tell some distance off if a horse is worried. On one occasion, horse heading towards me and I ended-up having to get off the bike, move the bike up against the hedge, I had to move away from the bike and keep talking standing there ... as horse was refusing to move until I did. Few days ago saw a youngster (12'ish? years old) lose control of her pony as a car went past.

So whilst I don't use bells, I'd be avoiding them round horses.

Ian

[Mick F]

If a cyclist has to give way, and is approaching from behind, that means that the cyclist must ride at walking pace.

[Jdsk]

I'm often in this situation, for example on the towpath alongside the Thames on the east of Oxford and the cycle paths next to the ring road. Those are all quite wide with occasional narrowing.

I talk to pedestrians, my wife rings a bell. Both work fine nearly all of the time. Any antagonism is very rare.

It often requires slowing down, it always requires being prepared to stop. In some encounters that's slowing to "walking pace". But I don't keep my speed down to that and my average speed is usually much faster.

Jonathan

[Debs]