Bells and Horns
Bring back the bicycle bell !
March 18 2009
There don't seem to be many bell-ringers, tooters or whistlers out there on the streets in New Zealand and consequently people here
don't seem to know how to react in the rare situations that they do hear one.
I've even heard that the first thing some cycle retailers here do is to remove the bells that come with bikes..... Go figure.
In the cities of Japan, pedestrians are well-accustomed to sharing space with bell-ringing cyclists and automatically pull-over to let them pass when they hear a tinkle from behind.
Have a look at this humorous little video from Japan 'The power of the Bicycle Bell' in which the guy has 'invented' a 'people bell' for people who're in a hurry- which takes advantage of pedestrian's automatic response when they hear a bicycle ring behind them.
And this: Bicycle bell mayhem from Amsterdam,- demonstrating the vide variety of bells and whistles that are a prerequisite to sharing space there....
You can get good cheap bicycle bells from the $2 shops and from the Warehouse and of course, bike shops.
If you really need to make more noise than a gentle tinkle...