Originally Posted by
Seattle Forrest
Years ago I took a MUP that paralleled a main road for a few blocks to avoid too fast traffic. Had to overtake some pedestrians, slowed down, called out "bike passing on the left," as I went by I heard "hey do you know where ..." so I stopped to earn some good karma. The lady asked me what I said before I passed, so apparently "bike passing on the left" is meaningless.
She heard you, apparently. So, the "on your left" worked sufficiently to make her aware of you presence. Did it work perfectly? Maybe not but it worked better (it seems) than doing nothing.