Advocacy & Safety - bells?

This morning. I was browsing through my local bike shop and noticed John had just brought out a couple of the latest road bikes from Giant.

Whilst admiring them an atachment on the bars caught my attention, was I seeing things "no", quite definatly there they were, small ring-a-ding bells, "Hey John" I called out whats with the bells (laughingly) , he replyed, yes its a new law thats stipulates all new cycles for the road must have a warning sound attached.

Has anyone else heard of this, its certainly news to me, and does this only imply in the Uk or everwhere.

As far as I know Northern Ireland is the only bit of britain where Bell's are mandatory. I do recall some proposed legislation to make shops supply them, but like front reflectors you didn't have to use them. It's possible it's been introduced...

I was asked by a couple of walkers at the weekend why I wasn't using a bell (I was politely waiting behind them) . When I did have one fitted I had a comment that I was being impatient ringing it - you can't win...

Well Richard.... From what I have seen the propossed legistlation has been sneaked through without us cyclists with an eye for the law being aware of it. :mad:

Originally posted by willic
Well Richard.... From what I have seen the propossed legistlation has been sneaked through without us cyclists with an eye for the law being aware of it. :mad:

It might just be Giant, they used to give away waterbottles with bikes as well.

Bells are a great tool for warning pedestrians.

They are useless for motorists. Sort of gives you an idea about where someone thinks we should be riding, doesn't it?

It's the law in NY state. But I don't have one - I can yell louder than any bell.

You know what I'm going to say--

"I use a whistle, blah, blah..."

:D

I can yell louder than any bell.

Have you seen these:

http://www.deltacycle.com/airzound/hornbody1.php

115db??? How long does a pumped up bottle last? And is it a presta valve or shraeder? I saw one on a picture of somebody's commuter bike on this forum and checked it out... it looks like a novel idea!

Jay

hell, why not just put an 18 wheeler horn on your bike??? talk about a ton of clutter... just use your good ole voice... I love to yell and scream at the idiotic drivers here...:)
Ryan

Bells aare req'd to give a warning when passing peds in Oregon, although a verbal warning works just the same...IMO, recognizing that lights are legally requ'd for riding in the dark and making lights req'd equipment on all bikes sold is a much more important safety feature than a bell...after all, don't you expect a new car to come with lights??? How would you feel if the car dealer told you that you'd need to spend a couple of hundred quid to purchase aftermarket lights before you could legally operate your vehicle after dark???

I just bought a bell (made by Bell). I've used it a few times while on a bike path. Pedestrians don't know how to react to "On your left." and a bell is distinctive enough to get their attention. I had one pedestrian thank me for the warning. It's useless for someone wearing a walkman.

By the way, the majority of my biking is on streets either with or without a bike lane. I only use paths about 10% of the time. Off the path I haven't used it at all. I guess I could use it when passing another cyclist, but I'm usually the slowest one out there.:)

Bells are mandatory in Finland. And speaking of lights: how would a cager feel, if the car salesman told him that in order to get a good set of lights with his car he has to spend a lot more? Like 20%-100% more?

--J

I use a polite bell to warn walkers on the cycle path.

As far as I was aware they were mandatory in some parts of Europe which is why I have one on my tourer anyway.

115db??? I'll bet in a year or two, we'll start hearing about cyclists who used those and have started to lose their hearing. Though I bet it gets a car's attention, I imagine using them w/o hearing protection would be quite painful... :)

It is adjustable, according to the website. I presume it's a simple adjustment to the compressed air flow. There should be two adjustments so one could use it at a quiet level and one for emergencies...

Jay