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Silent approaches...

by bromsongsmith
Wed, Aug 03, 2016 19:11
41

CYCLIST SAFETY ALERT    (Following four near accidents in Maplehurst Park Lane, West Sussex)

Before you read any further I need to say that I, my family and my friends , all enjoy riding our bikes in our local lanes so as you read on, (if you do), please don't think I am a cyclist hater because I am not.

I have no wish to deny other cyclists the joy of cycling along our country lanes, Bridleways and Heritage trails.  I just ask other cyclists to respect the fact that dog walkers, horse riders, hikers, ramblers and family groups with young children also have an equal right to use these facilities.

So, if you are cycling at 30 mph along a narrow country lane with no pavements and you are approaching a group of walkers FROM BEHIND (with maybe dogs or children straddling the road), be aware that they do not hear your silent tubeless tyre high speed approach and that they do not have eyes in the back of their heads and are therefore unaware of your impending presence.  (They do, of course, hear approaching motor vehicles and act accordingly)

There are two things you could do with this problem of ‘silent approach’.

You could slow down and alert them with a cheery “Good morning, I’m coming through” (or sound your bell) so that they could move aside for you and let you pass them safely.

OR

You could continue your high speed ‘silent approach’ and swear at them as you pass at 30 mph blaming them for the near collision after one of the party moved to the left or right just as you were upon them.

The choice is yours BUT REMEMBER …

If you hit a dog on a lead at 30 mph, you will kill it.

If you hit a young child at 30 mph, you will severely injure it and maybe kill it.

If you hit an elderly walker at 30 mph you will cause irreparable damage.

If you hit any of the above, you may even kill yourself…

If you didn’t kill yourself, you would undoubtedly be sued by your victim.

Surely, cycling at a more leisurely speed of about ten to fifteen miles an hour on a lovely sunny English day might give you time to enjoy the scenery as compared with racing speeds in excess of 30 mph?  Why not use an ‘Off-Road’ track for speed and endurance training?

So all I ask is this…   Just sound your approach and slow down before passing walkers.  Even then, be aware that a deaf person will still be oblivious to you approach!

Our beautiful country lanes can then be safe for all of us to enjoy, including you!

(I welcome your comments)

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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41 comments

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adamthekiwi replied to brooksby | 8 years ago
0 likes

brooksby wrote:

And pedestrians should be treating cyclists as vehicles and not as "oh, its just a cyclist".

Nobody here is invoking 'victim blaming'.  The closer analogy might be if a group of cyclists were cycling along a narrow lane (so, a road, not just some little bridleway/green lane, presumably) filling the entire roadway such that a car (or, indeed, another cyclist) couldn't get past, and then complained that the driver didn't use their horn or the cyclist their bell to let the club know they were there.

I know plenty of pedestrians who listen for a car then happily step out into the road - without looking - if they don't hear one.

But I don't know any cyclists that speed close and silent past a group of pedestrians. 

Everyone I know would ring a bell or call out, and slow down if there were children or animals wandering around (I do wonder why the OP is happy to let them wander about on a road anyway...?  That is a completely separate issue from walking facing or with the expected traffic flow).

I probably didn't word my thoughts very well - but your analogy is a good one: if a cyclist who had been in a group taking up most of a quiet country lane was on here complaining about a car (let's say an electric one, so no noise) that had zipped past them without warning, I doubt many of the denizons of this group would have started suggesting that the fault lay with the cyclists not leaving enough room. That is exactly what, it seems to me, a lot of posters are suggesting about the OP's walking group.

Everyone I know would also ring a bell or call out and additionally slow down. Anyone who doesn't is an @sshat - I'm simply suggesting that deflecting criticism to the walking group is disingenuous.

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hawkinspeter replied to adamthekiwi | 8 years ago
0 likes

adamthekiwi wrote:

brooksby wrote:

And pedestrians should be treating cyclists as vehicles and not as "oh, its just a cyclist".

Nobody here is invoking 'victim blaming'.  The closer analogy might be if a group of cyclists were cycling along a narrow lane (so, a road, not just some little bridleway/green lane, presumably) filling the entire roadway such that a car (or, indeed, another cyclist) couldn't get past, and then complained that the driver didn't use their horn or the cyclist their bell to let the club know they were there.

I know plenty of pedestrians who listen for a car then happily step out into the road - without looking - if they don't hear one.

But I don't know any cyclists that speed close and silent past a group of pedestrians. 

Everyone I know would ring a bell or call out, and slow down if there were children or animals wandering around (I do wonder why the OP is happy to let them wander about on a road anyway...?  That is a completely separate issue from walking facing or with the expected traffic flow).

I probably didn't word my thoughts very well - but your analogy is a good one: if a cyclist who had been in a group taking up most of a quiet country lane was on here complaining about a car (let's say an electric one, so no noise) that had zipped past them without warning, I doubt many of the denizons of this group would have started suggesting that the fault lay with the cyclists not leaving enough room. That is exactly what, it seems to me, a lot of posters are suggesting about the OP's walking group.

Everyone I know would also ring a bell or call out and additionally slow down. Anyone who doesn't is an @sshat - I'm simply suggesting that deflecting criticism to the walking group is disingenuous.

I think you're conflating two different issues. A group of cyclists using a country lane are generally following the Highway Code (as long as they're not more than two abreast) and are treated as vehicles. Pedestrians not facing the traffic are not following the Highway Code and are not considered as vehicles. Thus, the situation is different.

In general, the public roads are a shared resource, so we should be considerate and actually share them with other users. This means that as pedestrians, we should use pavements when available and walk facing the traffic when there are none. Not being in control of your dog/children is inconsiderate and dangerous - especially if you're on the "wrong" side of the road. It's not victim blaming - it's simply pointing out which parties are being inconsiderate and not actually sharing the roads.

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kil0ran | 8 years ago
1 like

Walk facing traffic wherever possible. Whilst driving today i encountered a woman pushing a buggy walking with traffic, and a bloke doing the same dressed in black walking a dog under tree shade. Agree we all need to share the road and not be monumental dicks around walkers/horse riders/slower cyclists etc. but if there isn't a pavement you really should be using all your senses to be aware of your surroundings. Growing up somewhere relatively rural one of the first things I was taught about road safety was to walk facing oncoming traffic. 

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freespirit1 | 8 years ago
1 like

I was always under the impression that ALL road users should obey the Highway Code. It is not just for pedestrians or motorists.

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Al__S | 8 years ago
4 likes

it's amazing the evil glares I get from pedestrians taking up the whole of a lane or path wen I ring my bell at them

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hawkinspeter | 8 years ago
0 likes

Incidentally, the bold warning text should read "PEDESTRIAN SAFETY ALERT" as this should be a warning for pedestrians to follow the highway code, especially when there's no pavement.

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brooksby replied to hawkinspeter | 8 years ago
1 like

hawkinspeter wrote:

Incidentally, the bold warning text should read "PEDESTRIAN SAFETY ALERT" as this should be a warning for pedestrians to follow the highway code, especially when there's no pavement.

Good point - I hadn't noticed that the first time I read it, but the OP does appear to be saying that they walk along narrow country lanes in a group all across the said lane.  Which is dumb.  Even on a narrow and/or quiet country lane, children and dogs shouldn't be straddling the road.  Its in violation of the HC, potentially dangerous, and is, again, pretty dumb.

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hawkinspeter | 8 years ago
3 likes

All of the above!

If there's no pavement, you should be facing oncoming traffic (i.e. on the right hand side) and ideally go single file when there's traffic. Relying on being able to hear traffic behind you might become more problematic when electric cars become commonplace, so it's best to use your eyes especially if you have hearing problems (I would have thought a deaf person would definitely want to keep to the right to avoid getting startled all the time).

You're right about horses though as they can get startled easily. I always slow down and overtake carefully giving as much room as possible (I typically encounter them on two lane roads, so I wait until I can use the oncoming lane). I usually smile and wave/nod at the horse riders (as if they're other cyclists) and it's mostly reciprocated.

As long as parties abide by the highway code and there's decent visibility, I don't see why we shouldn't be able to race/train along narrow country roads.

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StraelGuy | 8 years ago
0 likes

I agree with both of the above. if you're a group walking on a shared use path, don't spread out and hog the whole width. If you're walking along with earbuds in, don't leap in the air and swear at me as I shoot past. Previous generations would laugh at us. Can you image victorians in London walking about with their hearing deliberately impaired? Hell no! Basic common sense dictates that if you're walking around with strangers everywhere, being able to hear and being aware of your surroundings is probably a good idea.

 

There's never been a better era to be a mugger or a rapist.

 

Humans getting stupider? I think so.

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tritecommentbot | 8 years ago
5 likes

It's narrow but not that narrow:

 

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.0100298,-0.2965867,3a,75y,256.27h,78.96t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s6bDf9UC7f6aIXKIk89GgFQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

 

Walkers should be in single file in narrow lanes though and animals on a short leash in front of the owner. Nothing worse than a bunch walking 3 or 4 abreast taking up the entire path. I've seen groups of 5 or more doing that down Portobello beach strolling along like a bunch of dandies. They get a loud, 'do you mind'. Or the path ranger types, in full on defensive mode as he navigates his spawn and dutiful wife along the treacherous lands shouting at cyclists, 'bell?' That sort is a rarer breed, and should be treated with humour, 'shut it newb' is my favourite. They got no clue what a newb is.

 

That said, cyclists should shout out in advance and slow down when making passes on this sort of lane. I occassionally dodge some shitty junctions by hopping onto a wide foopath near where I live. Only have to ride on it for a literal matter of seconds, to save myself minutes, but I shout out 'sorry guys' at anyone in my way. Never had a complaint.

 

I don't carry a bell, it's goofy as f*** and not needed for a roadie, don't care what anyone says. I ride on the road 99.99% of the time and a bell isn't useful. Your voice is all you ever need to manage walkers. A noisy freewheel is all you need to alert other roadies.  If someone has headphones is, well big deal, I can see them and avoid them. Animals are shit though, you gotta give a really wide berth in case they dart at you, so best to slow right down and prepare to unclip if there's not much room.

 

On the other hand, there are lanes like the one the OP mentions in Edinburgh (canal towpath) and I've ridden those before, years ago, when I lived closer to them. A bell probably would be useful if you had to ride them daily instead of shouting endlessly as it's so busy. Used to think those paths were cool, now I reckon stuff like that isn't worth it and best left to walkers. Cycling's too slow when you mix with walkers. 

 

 

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foot_loose | 8 years ago
14 likes

Highway code. Walk on the right facing on coming traffic. Don't spread all over the road. Keep your dog on a short lead.

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