hankbrandenburg

Anybody have advice on how to politely approach and overtake a hiker/jogger/biker on a MUT (or elsewhere) that is completely oblivious to voice communication due to the personal audio pump?

I had to pass an older gentleman today that I literally screamed at from 10' behind him, and he did not hear me. He was so startled when I rolled past him (at 5 mph on the grass) that he had to sit down and catch his breath. I stopped to see if he was OK and it turned out he was wearing a pair of over the ear Bose noise-canceling headphones!

Any body have any ideas? An air horn comes to mind ....

Blue Jays

Look for a safe opportunity and pass quickly to minimize your exposure in an unsafe situation. I definitely hear what you're saying!

dwainedibbly

A paintball gun usually does the trick.

I have bells on my commuters, but you really have to assume that everyone is deaf.

Treespeed

Brains...

truman

I have to remember that their standards and priorities aren't my own, and that I have no reasonable expectation of cooperation from other trailusers, then I slow down and go around.

I would think that scaring the dentures out of grandpa there whould be its own reward.

pirate

You have no idea how much this irritates me. Almost a year ago, I was riding to class and, unbeknownst to me, there was a doofus on a road bike behind me, fiddling with his ipod and trying to overtake me on the right. He was trying to pass me because I was slowing down to make a right turn, apparently. As I hooked my right turn he plowed into me, sending us both ass over teakettle onto the ground. I jumped up and unleashed a stream of profanity, asking him wtf he was doing; he responded that he hit me because he was changing a song on his ipod. the also tried to blame the crash on me because I didn't make a hand signal. Like he would see it anyway, staring at his ipod.

The damage: out of true front wheel, bent brake caliper, huge paint scrape on my downtube from the brake hitting it, bloody palms and damaged nerve endings in the skin above my knee which still bothers me to this day.

The ****er rode off before I could get his info, sticking me with all the costs At least his ipod broke (it was pretty much shattered) bottom line: **** your ipod.

JeffB502

Pirate: Sounds like a hit and run with injuries, which would very likely be considered a felony (it's a wobbler where I am, which can be charged as a misdemeanor or felony, but would probably be a felony arrest). Did you call the police?

pirate

it most definately was a h-n-r, but unfortunatley I didn't realize that my knee was messed up until several weeks later, so I didn't call the police. On reflection, I would have grabbed his bike and not let him leave until the cops came.

I have never seen that guy or his bike around campus since- for his sake he better keep it that way.

for the op: airhorn to their ears sounds like a good solution!

unixpro

I've been considering ways to mount an airhorn on my bike. You know the kind that they use at football games and the like. Can of air with a horn on it. Then I could use it to warn people with headphones, sure, but, more fun, to honk back at those "individuals" who feel the need to honk at me for no good reason as I'm riding along, or the ones that force me into a hard braking turn because they decided to turn in front of me or, as happened this morning, get far enough into the turn that I'm already swerving left to go around them, then stop.

The trouble is, I'd want to mount it on the frame and activate it with a button on the handlebars.

Allen

You want an AirZound, about $25

zoltani

AllenG, have you actually used that thing? I have been considering getting one of those, i would love to scare the motorists like they scare me!

Allen

No I haven't. I get too much satisfaction screaming at the top of my lungs.
I have heard one, and they sound about the same as the pressurized can style.

chephy

+1 to AirZound. If they don't hear your AirZound... they must be deaf.

It sure surprises them. I scared myself with that thing a couple of times when I leaned over the bars for some reason and accidentally pressed the button. Too bad they are so high-pitched; I'd rather sound like a semi truck.

I haven't had much use for it in an emergency situation though. One time when it would have been useful I was too busy avoiding the motorist (succesfully); the other time I had more time, but forgot to turn the thing on... so pressing the button did nothing. I did use it to honk back at $hitheads who tried to honk at me though.

daredevil

I have one but only for the novelty. I've never actually brought it on the bike but it would do the job, no question. That pupppy is very loud. Would work really well on dogs too I think. I tell ya, it scares the crap out of you if you aren't ready for it.

No way I paid $25 for it though. I think I got it on sale for really cheap.

unixpro

I like it! I'm going to seriously consider that. I'm getting really tired of those idiots who come too close, honk, throw things, etc. Just giving them the finger is somehow unsatisfying.

bsyptak

I used to do a lot of camping with a friend of mine who would snore enough to drive me up the tent walls. I started yelling "SNORE" loudly and quickly. He'd wake up, but not know why. Snoring would stop.

So, I say, ride by them, and yell "PASS". They'll think you've said the latter 3 letters, but at any rate, you get your point across along with a double entendre.

Mr. Underbridge

Agree. And give them as much room as you can. Earphone wearers are usually oblivious, and act like startled antelope. Like gramps did.

donnamb 

I love mine. It really works.

chephy

They deserve the 3-letter word too. There is nothing wrong with wearing headphones as far as I'm concerned, but why the hell not just keep to the right while you're doing this? Does it not occur to people that it's a path that others might use? And that they should leave passing space when it's safe to do so? I'm always extremely conscious of how much space I take up and whether it's necessary... and so many people are just completely oblivious to this. Or else they just figure they are too important to make space for other trail/road users. Either way they are acting like asses.

brew

i usually give them three warnings, one at about 15 seconds before i will pass, one at 10, and one at 5 depending on if they dont respond. If i have given three very audible warnings and they dont respond i pick the safest point and pass them, with very little remorse for scaring the crap out of them.

idcruiserman

Quietly pass as wide as possible. It's pretty rare I pass someone that doesn't have earphones on.

Steve Hamlin

I lifted the notion from the couriers I've seen in NYC and SF and picked up one of these whistles from REI:
https://www.stormwhistles.com/

Put it on a key retainer (like the janitor at your elementary school probably had. . .) attached to the handlebars.

Mostly got it for cars but would certainly use it on anyone oblivious enough to need it.

East Hill

There really is no polite way to pass someone who's oblivious. That's what you had, an oblivous walker. Honestly, if you're out walking with a pair of noise-cancelling headphones, and you aren't staying to the right, AND if you aren't paying attention, you deserve to be scared silly when someone sneaks up behind you and says 'boo'.

What if you'd been a mugger?

East Hill

sumguy

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Hamlin

I lifted the notion from the couriers I've seen in NYC and SF and picked up one of these whistles from REI:
https://www.stormwhistles.com/

Put it on a key retainer (like the janitor at your elementary school probably had. . .) attached to the handlebars.

Mostly got it for cars but would certainly use it on anyone oblivious enough to need it.

I like this idea!! Found another interesting item while shopping for the StormWhistle
Bellow Air Horn 110db

oboeguy

I've been thinking about getting an AirZounds for a couple of years now but I tend to resort to the "teacher voice" in me. Sometimes it scares the cr@p out of people.

Speaking of IPod zombies, one almost made a left turn into my right flank. On the road. Then after correcting and wobbling a bit did the same exact thing to my ride buddy who was a couple of lengths behind me. Incredible but true.