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Original poster

When cyclists ding you, does it kill a little bit of you inside?

298 replies

energywavering · 27/03/2022 09:48

Because it does me!!

And I tell you what I could probably handle the ding if a "thank you" came along after you move for them..

It's basically saying "ding ding I have right of way over you so MOVE"

OP posts:
savehannah · 27/03/2022 11:14

@TeenPlusCat

I'm normally very mild mannered, but I do shout at cyclists who have made me jump by overtaking me closely without alerting me as to their presence.
Exactly. Much better to ring to give someone warning you are behind them. The number of times a pedestrian is walking along apparently on the left and then for no apparent reason suddenly swerves across the path just as I was about to go past them. If someone knows a cyclist is coming they rarely need to move, often they just need to keep walking in a straight line!
Mustreadabook · 27/03/2022 11:16

When I cycle on shared footpath/ cycle lanes I would just go around people no ding. Because if you ding they jump in the air and move randomly across your path! I don’t like being dinged when the cyclist could have just past me. My dad thinks it’s rude for a cyclist to be near him without them dinging. My example is so cars beep whenever they overtake. And would that be really annoying?

Killermontstreet · 27/03/2022 11:16

The highway code recommends cyclists use a bell on shared paths btw. And asifbymagic, you sound the entitled one if you won't consider stepping out the middle of a path to allow a cyclist to pass by, and would prefer them just to walk behind you forever!

Courante · 27/03/2022 11:16

Definitely better to ring the bell as a warning rather than not - even if you are well over one side of the path.

Most of the time I encounter bike riders ringing bells it is on pavements - that makes me annoyed (that they are on the pavement!). Still worse to be on the pavement and not ring the bell. Last week a bike whizzed past me on the pavement (that I had not noticed and did not ring a bell) just as I was moving to that side of the pavement to cross the road. I think we were a fraction of a second away from a collision that could've ended very badly.

GoldenOmber · 27/03/2022 11:17

My example is so cars beep whenever they overtake. And would that be really annoying?

But you know the car behind you is there, because cars are making engine noise anyway. You don’t know a bike is behind you unless the person on it lets you know.

AndAsIfByMagic · 27/03/2022 11:18

So if there is space for the pedestrian to step to the side and create space for a cyclist to pass, are you saying that they shouldn't? Why not? The only reason I can see is so the pedestrian can say "know your place!" to the cyclist. Why would someone want to do that, other than being a complete knob?

Because they don't want their walk regularly interrupted by having to move out of the way of people who think they have more right to the space. Why is your journey more important than mine?

@GoldenOmber

Highway code is clear. Pedestrians get priority over cyclists. Read it again.

If a cyclist passes too close to me ie within arm's reach, they are likely to get a push. From instinct rather than intention.

Fortunately, around here cyclists seem to have better manners than those on MN.

bellac11 · 27/03/2022 11:18

@Mustreadabook

When I cycle on shared footpath/ cycle lanes I would just go around people no ding. Because if you ding they jump in the air and move randomly across your path! I don’t like being dinged when the cyclist could have just past me. My dad thinks it’s rude for a cyclist to be near him without them dinging. My example is so cars beep whenever they overtake. And would that be really annoying?
Surely it depends on how far back you ding and how fast you are going. I ding from a long way back so people have time to hear, digest and look behind and decide what they want to do.

If you ding as you're just coming up to them or going past, its too late and makes people jump.

ClinkeyMonkey · 27/03/2022 11:19

DP was hit and injured by a cyclist while we were walking on a towpath. No bell. We only heard him when he got very close, then we panicked a bit - DP went to one side, I went to the other. The cyclist was travelling pretty fast, swerved and hit DP, then had the cheek to be annoyed at us for not intuitively moving out of his way. I told him to slow down and invest in a fucking bell. Entitled sod. There were plenty of other cyclists using the towpath and managing to be careful of pedestrians. So I, for one, like bells and appreciate the consideration shown by those who use them.

GoldenOmber · 27/03/2022 11:20

Highway code is clear. Pedestrians get priority over cyclists. Read it again.

I don’t think you know what ‘priority’ means. It doesn’t mean ‘I am the only one who gets to use this path.’

bellac11 · 27/03/2022 11:20

@GoldenOmber

My example is so cars beep whenever they overtake. And would that be really annoying?

But you know the car behind you is there, because cars are making engine noise anyway. You don’t know a bike is behind you unless the person on it lets you know.

Not just that but most other cars or cyclists on the road have wing mirrors, so they know a car is coming up behind them

Pedestrians, in the majority dont tend to walk around with little mirrors stuck to the side of their faces, they dont know whats behind them and dont make a habit of looking behind them. A cyclist on the road does tend to.

maddy68 · 27/03/2022 11:21

Apart from it being a legal requirement to song as a warning to you. Why on earth dies it bother you ?

bellac11 · 27/03/2022 11:22

@AndAsIfByMagic

So if there is space for the pedestrian to step to the side and create space for a cyclist to pass, are you saying that they shouldn't? Why not? The only reason I can see is so the pedestrian can say "know your place!" to the cyclist. Why would someone want to do that, other than being a complete knob?

Because they don't want their walk regularly interrupted by having to move out of the way of people who think they have more right to the space. Why is your journey more important than mine?

@GoldenOmber

Highway code is clear. Pedestrians get priority over cyclists. Read it again.

If a cyclist passes too close to me ie within arm's reach, they are likely to get a push. From instinct rather than intention.

Fortunately, around here cyclists seem to have better manners than those on MN.

Priority does not mean you can obstruct other users though. Do you refuse to move for runners, horses, people on mobility scooters?
ClafoutisSurprise · 27/03/2022 11:22

@bellac11 - I don’t know what’s in people’s minds. That’s why I said ‘it seems’. But just as there are terrible motorists whose driving makes clear they don’t care about anyone else, there are bad cyclists. Bad cycling behaviour includes what I mentioned above about being yelled at and, yes, last-minute dinging (or no warning at all) when overtaking at speed. I’m not casting aspersions on individual cyclists or cyclists as a whole, and would probably be one myself if we had a proper infrastructure.

I don’t have a problem with staying behind cyclists when driving either (well, ok, I may not love it, but I respect it and understand why it’s necessary) and am extremely cautious around them. But I find there are a great number of cyclists who don’t treat me with much consideration when I’m the slower party, and that double standard is annoying. I’ve been knocked over by a bike in the last and am aware of how vulnerable pedestrians are. Appreciate I did not use the correct terms, but I think the principle stands.

Jillyfernilly · 27/03/2022 11:23

I avoid cycling on shared use paths if at all possible for this reason. Canal paths are the absolute worst.

Some pedestrians get all chippy if you use your bell and others if you don't.

If there is a demarcation line between cycle section and pedestrian section people still walk in the cycle bit and get really pissed of at you for just existing.

Years ago in Edinburgh I came across a buggy containing a sleeping child that had been parked in the cycle section of the shared use path across the meadows. It was also just after you crested the hill so in a pretty dangerous location. I have an acquaintance who was hit by a bike when crossing that path and sustained a life changing head injury so I'm sensitive about it.

The mother was playing with her older child on the grass nearby I got off my bike, walked over and extremely politely (I can be a ranty cyclist but on this occasion I really wasn't) asked if she realised she had left her buggy in the middle of the cycle way, what I was worried about and suggested that she move the buggy onto the grass so her sleeping child wouldn't be accidentally hit by a cyclist. Her reaction was amazingly aggressive. It has always remained with me.

As a pedestrian I loathe cyclists on the pavement and have had numerous rows (see above - ranty cyclist!) with adults who choose to do so. There are loads of great quiet on road cycle facilities around here and cycling on the pavement is totally unnecessary.

knittingaddict · 27/03/2022 11:24

Not enough cyclists have bells or use them. Personally I appreciate the warning as you rarely hear them coming up behind you if they don't alert you with the bell, as intended.

Notdoingthis · 27/03/2022 11:24

I thought you had to ring the bell to let people know you are coming? Why would I die inside???

Badbadbunny · 27/03/2022 11:28

@Mustreadabook

My example is so cars beep whenever they overtake. And would that be really annoying?

Wow? If you're driving, you've got mirrors and should be regularly checking them, so you should know when a vehicle is behind you and should be aware of them over-taking. Pedestrians tend not to have mirrors, so need a warning, i.e. a ding of a bell!

DaffTheDoggo · 27/03/2022 11:30

@Haus1234

No, it doesn’t, I appreciate them not hitting me tbh.
Low bar.

It really annoys me on the pavement- they shouldn’t be there are certainly shouldn’t be telling pedestrians to get out of the way. Fine if it’s shared use.

EatSleepRantRepeat · 27/03/2022 11:31

Personally I'd rather have a ding ding and slow right down than the shouting - like the way they are supposed to pass horses, but for pedestrians as well. We live in a nice area which is visited by lots of cyclists, and in our last home we were regularly woken at 6am by twats screaming directions as their amateur peleton crossed the road outside. It got so bad the residents started narrowing the footpaths with streams of brightly coloured ribbon to slow them down into single file.

That's without the additional traffic and parking problems caused by them driving their fancy bike on top of their 4x4 to our area - I thought cycling was encouraged to relieve congestion?

GoldenOmber · 27/03/2022 11:32

It really annoys me on the pavement- they shouldn’t be there are certainly shouldn’t be telling pedestrians to get out of the way. Fine if it’s shared use.

Yes agreed with this!

Fernandina · 27/03/2022 11:34

There's some lovely woodland near us, totally taken over now by arsehole mountain bikers.

They don't ding you, they yell "GET OUT OF THE WAY!!!" as they hurtle towards you along the path, and woe betide you if you don't leap aside.

Fuckers.

GahAndTheBear · 27/03/2022 11:38

If I ding people on the shared path, I always feel apologetic about it. I’m basically warning them that I’m going to be passing them because I don’t want to startle them. I do say thanks as I pass though.

I hate doing it though because I don’t want to come across as an arsehole. But equally, I don’t want to scare people by rushing past them unexpectedly.

SundayNameMange · 27/03/2022 11:40

Im glad of it normally, how else would I know to jump out of the way.

overitall1 · 27/03/2022 11:41

A note to all cyclists - those with hearing aids may not hear your ding!!!! I never do and invariably get dragged out of the way by DH. Don't get stroppy!

AnybodyAnywhere · 27/03/2022 11:42

I don’t mind at all on Shared Paths….except for one elderly couple who I often meet who always pass you one on either side, you know it’s them because he always shouts OiOi and the safest thing to do is stand stock still 🤷🏻‍♀️.

I do mind when it’s on Footpaths clearly marked No Cycling….sometimes so narrow that the only way to get out of the way is to climb into a hedge. In that situation I will tell them to get off and walk past me, I’m used to the abuse!