Originally Posted by
adamsusa
Let me tell you, this is a REAL problem. Just last week my wife crashed due to a "silent" cyclist passing attempt. I was behind her and saw the whole thing happened -scary. And yes, I say attempt because he ran into my wife who was startled by his sudden presence and ended in a pile up of both of them. Later the cyclist jokingly said maybe I should send your wife the bill for my bike repair (new tire, carbon fiber water bottle) - of course I had to say, maybe you should learn to call out before passing cyclist. He was silent after that.
Someone went somewhere they weren't expected to be. Given that the person passing had a good view of your wife all the way up until passing, and your wife only saw them at the last minute, I know where i'd place my bet.
Others have said it before and it bears truth in my neck of the woods: Saying "on your left" makes half the riders/walkers move left. Ringing a bell startles people and again you get a 50-50 chance that they'll move into your path. The safest thing is to wait until there's room to pass with a wide berth and a reasonable speed differential.