Quote:
Originally Posted by Wormius
That said, when I am just biking or walking, I do find it irritating to be "dinged" at when I have been sticking to the right side of the path and not meandering or zig-zagging around. If you're approaching from behind, you can tell from my behavior if have been erratic or if I am about to pass somebody in front me. Is it really necessary to ring your bell at everybody you pass?
Anyway, it's more of an annoyance, I get that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure in these situations.
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It really is a no win situation for cyclists.
If you ring your bell, people get annoyed at you for just the reason you described. If you don't, or try to moderate it so you're only ringing when it's truly necessary, people give you lip for "sneaking up on them" or when you make the judgement call wrong and they move unpredictably.
Add to that people with headphones, dogs on leash, dogs off leash, strollers, kids, photoshoots, selfie sticks and people who need hearing aids or just don't give a #### and it's kind of a perfect recipe for conflict (also don't forget infrastructure in all it's states: construction/missing/broken/inconsistent/in-the-way -- it's amazing we all get anywhere safely).