...and bells on her toes...
I've been having a light hearted yet ongoing argument with Snooze over whether or not bells on bikes are compulsory. Well, turns out I'm wrong as Snooze has discovered courtesy of the Bicycle Victoria website.
OMGWTFBBQ indeed!
I can understand the point of cars being required to have horns, trams to have bells, trains hooters and emergency vehicles sirens, but bicycles!?
OK, so a bell on a bike might be handy to warn pedestrians of an approaching bike, BUT RIDING ON THE FOOTPATH IS ILLEGAL, so THAT can't be the reason.
So why else would youneed be required at the point of a $50 fine to have a bell on your bike? To alert cars to your presence? As if anyone in a car is going to hear a pathetically pinging warning bell from a cyclist.
It's a silly rule.
Traffic regulations require a rider to have a bell fitted. The penalty for riding a bicycle without a bell is $50. The penalty refers specifically to a bell. The old definition of an audible warning device no longer applies - so you can't argue that your voice meets the regulations.
A bicycle for normal road use must be sold with 'an efficient bell or some other suitable audible warning device'.
OMGWTFBBQ indeed!
I can understand the point of cars being required to have horns, trams to have bells, trains hooters and emergency vehicles sirens, but bicycles!?
OK, so a bell on a bike might be handy to warn pedestrians of an approaching bike, BUT RIDING ON THE FOOTPATH IS ILLEGAL, so THAT can't be the reason.
So why else would you
It's a silly rule.
It does seem pretty nuts, especially as half the time you wouldn't be able to hear a bell over traffic noise. On the other hand, if you were riding with a group of others, a la 'The Motherfuckers', you could jauntily ring your bells in rhythmic patterns, and make such pretty music. Put me in a crate on the back of yours, and I will beat box as accompaniment.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's because while riding in the inner city you often need to draw attention to your presence when careless pedestrians stroll out into the bike lane - a la the strip of Swanston outside RMIT. As CC has described in her recent road rules post, not everyone seems to respect the sovereignty of the bike lane...
ReplyDeleteOr maybe it's for cases such as that which I encountered around 10pm Monday evening, where a taxi stopped in the right hand lane heading south along St Kilda Rd while some pedestrians ran around to the passenger side to jump in, without worrying whether a bike was on its way. I had my front light blasting away, but it was still the aggravated bell-ringing that alerted them to my presence.
Still, by that logic, if the bell is compulsory for the benefit of reckless pedestrians, they should be paid for out of taxes on said pedestrians. Perhaps we should look into mounted cameras on the front of bike handlebars with access to police databases and facial recognition technology that could easily submit automated fines for reckless pedestrians via remote.
I use my bell constantly for stopping pedestrians wandering out into the road in front of me. It's also just a nice thing to ring the bell noisily while riding down Fitzroy Street at 3am (or so some people seem to think).
ReplyDeleteall power to the bell - i love my bell - and use it ALL the time to alert pedestrians on the shared footway/biketrack, other slower-moving bikes so they don't suddenly jag right as I am over-taking them, drivers about to turn left, people in parked cars who might be about to open car door, pedestrians loitering in the bike lane, drunken folk weaving all over the road. oh yes indeedy, i am a bell-ringer. would that there were more of us...
ReplyDeleteSee, I hear you on the bell (so to speak) and I'm by no means against the things, but to fine people for not having one seems wrong to me.
ReplyDeleteActually, the Bicycle Victoria web site is a bit misleading when it says "Traffic regulations require a rider to have a bell fitted": because the Australian Road Rules say that a bike requires "a bell, horn, or similar warning device, in working order". But I take BV's main point that the rider's voice doesn't really cut it as a warning device.
ReplyDeleteAnyway I come down in favour of bells and I wouldn't be without mine.
I find a bell is indispensable on shared paths, both as a courtesy to other path users but also to gain some extra path space (people almost always move over a bit).
As for warning pedestrians who step out into the road, I totally agree that it's useful there.
We all tend to assume that bike bells are hopeless against traffic noise, but I'm happy to say that I've been successful in getting the attention of some taxi and truck drivers just with vigourous ringing of the bell. (The secret is to get one of those old-fashioned bells with the internal hammer--and keep ring-ring-ringing until someone pays attention.) Alright, so it's not going to work in every circumstance but it works sometimes. If you're concerned that bells aren't effective, a horn is an acceptable alternative so get a Zound (one of those might also be fun for blasting errant pedestrians outside RMIT).
That said, I really don't care whether other riders have a bell or not, as long as they make some kind of warning when they overtake on the shared paths.
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