cycling dangers

[tartanhaggis7]

yesterday went on a wee cycle along the fourth canal. very enjoyable and it did help that the RARE orange thing in the skye appeared!!! 🌞 2 main things pissed me off though 1st going through the parks dogs on extenable leads they should be by LAW fluorescent yellow 2nd people who don't move to single file when you ring bell!! normally because they are zoned out to blaring music!!! and a first for me accused of AGGRESSIVE bell ringing i'l not tell u my reply

In turn, it would be good if cyclists wore brightly coloured clothing and lights so that everyone could see them clearly. As they don't, it's incumbent upon the faster road users to take care and drive safely. We need to do the equivalent when cycling through parks.

Re shared paths (which the Forth canal is - and a very narrow one in parts to boot) - you should check the Scottish Outdoor Access Code for information on what cyclists should do. Ringing your bell alerts walkers to your presence - it's not an instruction to them to move out of your way.

The thing with the bell is that it is only an alert to make people aware of your presence.
Legally they do not have to move.
The general rule is to ring the bell about 15m away. Hopefully they move but if not and there is space you say " passing on your right' ( or left, whichever way) and thank them once passed.
There could be loads of reasons why they don't move.
They may have air buds in, they may not be able to move quick enough, you may be too close when you have rang your bell, they may be hearing impaired, they may be grumpy and sick of cyclist riding right up to them or as in your case be zoned out.However as a cyclist, it is a you problem, not theirs.

I get you about the dogs and leads.
I have three dogs and im a cyclist so I hear your complaints. However your complaints are why I wont cycle on a canal, there is another reason and that is because of all the fishing that goes on. Often with all the gear the blokes are taking up a good chunk of the path that I also have to navigate around!

I find that if I ring my bell, a good number of walkers get pissed off because they think I'm acting entitled and expecting them to get out of my way. On the other hand, if I don't ring it, I get told off; "where's your bell..."

I think it's funny drivers complaining about cyclists not wearing bright clothes. Black is one of the most popular colours for cars. Nobody says "why don't you drive a yellow car"

Pedestrians have priority, why are you ringing your bell at them. You adapt to them, not them to you. It’s like when cyclists are on the road and cars have to wait for them and only overtake when safe to do so, because the cyclist has priority. You’ve no right to be going around dinnging a bell at people

Yeah shared paths are tricky because pedestrians have priority.

A lot of cyclists don't know this and it creates unnecessary conflict.

I'm mostly a pedestrian these days, I don't mind moving for cyclists except where it's narrow and it means I basically have to stand in a hedge. But we need time to hear the bell & decide what to do before they arrive.

"Dinging a bell" isn't an instruction, it's to make people aware that you're there. So, for instance, your cycling on a shared path and there someone walking ahead of you and you're catching them up. You ding your bell so that you don't give them a shock as you go past them. So they hear you coming. Dinging your bell is the very definition of you adapting to the pedestrians

Just as, in theory, car drivers are supposed to use their horns - not as a "get out of my way' but as a 'be aware that I'm here'

Because if a cyclist doesn't see a black car in the dark, then they're not going to do the same amount of damage that a car driver who doesn't see a cyclist dressed head to toe in black in the dark will do to the cyclist. It's obvious really.

Dinging your bell alerts pedestrians to your presence - it doesn't mean they have to move off a narrow path (like the Forth canal in question) for you. In this case, the cyclist has to wait until the path widens and then go round the pedestrian - in exactly the same way car drivers (providing they're driving correctly) have to on the road when trying to get past a cyclist.

if that was the case then why do pedestrians MOAN at you if you don't ring your bell! shouting where's your bell also alot of pavements are also cycle paths so your argument about PRIORITY does not hold any water!!! do me me a favour get on a bike and pass pedestrians WITHOUT dinning your bell see what reaction you get then get back and apologise to Me!!!

i agree with MOST of your statements tell me this do you have extendable leads for your dogs? if so i hope they are hi viz especially now its getting darker i dont know how many times irresponsible owners have dogs on leads them on one side of a path and the dog on the other making a bloody trip wire 😠😠😠😨

its also in case the dafty moves to the left or right why do pedestrians INSIST in walking in the middle of a cycle path/ pavement here in most parks theve had to paint BIG dividing marks ang guess what pedestrians have to walk in the left with double space for us COMPETENT cyclists😎

I live in an area with loads of shared cycle and walking paths - it’s lovely. In the summer, we have a lot of narrowed paths because shrubs and brambles get unruly, and we end up with some blind corners and path junctions that are a bit hairy - not just people on foot but also other cyclists.

I have trained my son to deal with this as follows:

If you can’t see the path ahead of you to know it’s clear, you need to be going slow enough to stop immediately.

You never buzz past a pedestrian - so pass at a “trickling pace” or move onto the grass alongside the path to pass wide at speed. We have a few paths which are very wide and we can call out “passing on your right” and when pedestrians are walking towards us they’ll usually pull to one side of the path and we will then “pick the other side and stick to it.”

If someone is walking ahead of you with a dog, a pram, a child on a scooter, they won’t be concentrating and there’s a risk of something unexpected happening, So always be ready to stop. We use out bell to give people a warning - we also use our bells ahead of blind corners, and reduce our speed just in case.

We avoid routes and times that are narrow and populated with walkers/joggers with earbuds and/or dog walkers. I wouldn’t cycle a narrow canal path as it doesn’t sound like fun since we’d be start/stop the whole way.

Generally if people are getting cross with you it’s likely because you’re passing them too fast or too close, which is rude and dangerous.

sounds like your a very responsible cyclist 😎 i live in glasgow and frequently go along the canal path and most times i encounter oncoming electric bikes ( tweaked) cruising at 30 mph wearing all black headphones on and of course the obligatory balaclava you check in your mirror they've GONE when mentioned to a cycle cop was told were you hit no well u were lucky pal move on !! 😤

Your OP was about the Forth Canal, not a shared cycle path on the pavement, that's why.

And no, I don't have an extendable lead - they're dangerous things and I never use them.

I get you about the dogs on extendable leads. When my child was newborn I was walking in the park with her in her pram and a dog on an extendable lead raced past and the lead caught around the pram wheels and tipped the pram. The owners were completely oblivious!

Interactions with pedestrians when you're cycling can be funny. For example, This scenario is very common; I'm cycling along a wide shared path. There's room for two pedestrians to walk side by side and for me to pass them at the same time. But they're walking in the middle of the path, so getting past on either side is tighter than I would like. So I ring my bell, hoping that, when they hear me coming, they will move to one side or the other. But what happens is that they both stop, look over their shoulders to see what the situation is and then the one on the right moves to the left and the one on the left moves to the right. Meanwhile, I have gently eased my brakes on and am now crawling along at less than walking speed.

Usually we all laugh while we get sorted. I don't blame the pedestrians here, they're trying to be helpful and that's all anyone can do; they're just in a bit of a panic.

We all (pedestrians, cyclists, motorists) need to chill a little and be considerate of our fellow road users. Cycling in the UK (and I'm in London) too often feels like going to war. I cycled last year down the length of the Rhine from Switzerland to Rotterdam and really enjoyed how relaxed almost all road users seem to be in Europe, how happy to live alongside each other. Many times, in towns, cyclists were directed to cycle on pavements, which resulted in no conflict at all.

Pedestrians probably moan if you don’t ring a bell because you startle them by cycling up behind them and over taking them or a cyclist may sit behind a pedestrian grumpily because the pedestrian hasn’t realised they are behind them.

We’ve got quite a lot of shared paths in our area and mostly people share them sensibly and amicably. Cyclists ring their bell in time and/or call out something useful like ‘passing on the right’ or ‘two on your right’. (It’s usually right because we tend to walk on the left). Most then say thanks, and I’ll thank them too.
We do get a few who buzz by without warning or ring their bells without leaving us adequate time to react (vast majority men) - the latter are probably the reason why some pedestrians (foolishly) don’t like bells.