Originally Posted by
veganbikes
A bell has no emotion so that is why I prefer it. I find having to yell at someone is aggressive but the only way to be heard sometimes if not using a bell and some of my free hubs are louder but usually not enough to cut through sometimes. Slowing down is good though,
I always think of these on shared use paths. There isn’t really another context where they make sense for me. If someone steps out into the road I’m reaching for the brakes / calling out / taking avoiding action, not thinking about a bell.
And in the shared use path context, I think they sound insistent and assumptive. They also tell the pedestrain nothing about where you intend to go so they just panic.