Pedestrians & earphones.

[Markymark]

I think it is the glee in which the walker was startled. It is their space cyclists have been permitted to share.

 

[winjim]

And as for deaf people, they've got it coming to them.

What about the blind? A lot of them have dogs.

 

[mjr]

I think it is the glee in which the walker was startled. It is their space cyclists have been permitted to share.

Not necessarily. Some are built as cycle tracks and left open to pedestrians because most share nicely so there's no reason to be as mean as motorists and ban them.

Some are even built as carriageways and closed to motorists when bypasses are built, or railways where the metals have been removed, and left as a more direct route for walking and cycling.

Share and enjoy! Cyclists mustn't become like motorists just because there are no predators in those spaces, but they need not bow and scrape either.

 

[the snail]

I wonder if priorities and liability are different in China?

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_...ly_kill_the_pedestrians_they_hit_china_s.html

 

[Tin Pot]

Deserves some sort of injury? Really?

You heard me.

Pun intended.

 

[winjim]

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_...ly_kill_the_pedestrians_they_hit_china_s.html

 

[martint235]

Why are some of you guys giving the op such a hard time?
He tried to alert the dog walker of his presence but the walker had headphones on and couldn't hear him......i think it would be safe to say the dog walker was probably too engrossed in listening to his music or e-book to reallise what was going on around him. The op did what he could to alert the guy then shouted cyclist which obviously woke the walker up from his tauper and made him take notice.
It would have been a totally different scenario had the op continued to cycle past the walker only to startle him and cause him to stumble into the path of the bike potentially injuring the cyclist and the walker not to mention the walkers dog.
it seems to be getting more and more common that people are wearing headphones whilst walking, i have even witnesed drivers wearing them and i almost knocked a cyclist off his bike a couple of years ago when he decided to turn across the front of my car totally oblivious of the fact i was there because he was wearing headphones listening to god only knows what, that incident ended up with me skidding across the road into the path of oncoming traffic, luckily no one was injured. It is my opinion that wearing of headphones to listen to music or whatever makes the wearer totally unaware of what is happening around them.

If the walker can't hear him and he stumbles in to the path of the bike then the cyclist is going too quickly too closely.

We criticise motorists for wanting to save every second, why couldn't the op just cycle slowly a reasonable distance behind the walker and then pass with a very wide gap when safe to do so? It's not rocket science.

 

[shouldbeinbed]

He did:
"I slowed down"

Not defending him, but he slowed down, rang bell, verbally told the guy he was there...interested to know what was missing!

Yelling quite loudly Cyclist at someone at close range FFS.
What is wrong with a bit of civility and a polite good morning &/or excuse me please, can I pass by on your left/right

The bell/voice debates always come down to bell users denigrating voice users for the ignorant and curt way in which they determine a voice is used - maybe this shows that there is something about having rung a bell that gives you an unwarranted sense of moral superiority to justify using your voice in the same manner as a driver would make a punishment pass after repeatedly beeping their horn at you from what THEY consider to be a safe distance. Excessively and to frighten the recipient into compliance and seemingly to amuse themself as much as any sort of necessity.

And as others have said, clearly not slowing down enough on what the OP clearly defines as a SHARED path not a DEDICATED path.

I'm sure rorm the OP it is the quoted shared cycle path, I'm sure from the dog wlker, it is a shared foot path.
The shared bit is key and that as on the roadspeds / bikes v cars v big trucks or motor v sail on shared waterways means the faster and more powerful should give note at least to the more vulnerable and act appropriately.

Also of course, we know from the interminable headphone debates on here, from the people that use them being adamant that they don't make any difference to your awareness of.the world around you.

We can't have it both ways, if it would be a shitty way for us to be treated then it is a shitty way for us to treat others and then brag about.

As for the keyboard warriors comment elsewhere: I'm sure simomgt stopped after scaring this dog walker out of his skin to say something like: can I suggest that you keep the volume downna bit on these shared paths, Inwasnringing my bell several times but you didn't hear it, I didn't mean to startle you but felt I had to make you aware of my presence as I had every intention of passing you at this point.

Keyboard warriors come in all shapes and sizes, the only one in this thread that could have had a face to face is the one bragging about scaring a fellow human being out of their skin.

 

[Dan B]

Not that you see many people walking any more. They've been scared away from most transport routes by unfettered motor traffic.

I'm sure you're not really suggesting that we finish the job by scaring them away from traffic-free[*] routes as well, but I can't see what else shouting "CYCLIST" and making them jump out of their skins is supposed to do.

[*] motor-traffic-free, leastways

 

[mjr]

I'm sure you're not really suggesting that we finish the job by scaring them away from traffic-free[*] routes as well, but I can't see what else shouting "CYCLIST" and making them jump out of their skins is supposed to do.

[*] motor-traffic-free, leastways

No, the op didn't handle it brilliantly, but shouting something more polite or ringing a bell until you're noticed is the lesser of two evils IMO. The way most walkers react when a cyclist is quietly "stalking" them suggests they would prefer cyclists announced themselves and at least give them the option of hurrying up, pulling over or just continuing.

 

[Plax]

Why are some of you guys giving the op such a hard time?
He tried to alert the dog walker of his presence but the walker had headphones on and couldn't hear him......i think it would be safe to say the dog walker was probably too engrossed in listening to his music or e-book to reallise what was going on around him. The op did what he could to alert the guy then shouted cyclist which obviously woke the walker up from his tauper and made him take notice.
It would have been a totally different scenario had the op continued to cycle past the walker only to startle him and cause him to stumble into the path of the bike potentially injuring the cyclist and the walker not to mention the walkers dog.
it seems to be getting more and more common that people are wearing headphones whilst walking, i have even witnesed drivers wearing them and i almost knocked a cyclist off his bike a couple of years ago when he decided to turn across the front of my car totally oblivious of the fact i was there because he was wearing headphones listening to god only knows what, that incident ended up with me skidding across the road into the path of oncoming traffic, luckily no one was injured. It is my opinion that wearing of headphones to listen to music or whatever makes the wearer totally unaware of what is happening around them.

So you're saying deaf people shouldn't ride a bike?

 

[mjr]

'Dozy sod', 'serves him right'? That's a bit more than just 'not handling it brilliantly', more behaving like a bit of a bully.

I agree and I apologise for my English reserve

I only posted to object when the nonsense like "a shared path is a pedestrian's space where bikes are allowed" and "what's wrong with using the road?" started up again. A shared path is a shared path and either side can behave badly, although most people behave well in my experience. If we really want to get down to it, a carriageway is a shared-by-humans-and-animals space where motors are allowed by licence, but good luck asserting that precedence on the A10.

 

[blazed]

Man gets startled. Cyclechat reacts in horror.

 

[Tin Pot]

Men must be protected from very rare occasions in which people ask them to get out of the farking way because they were being inconsiderate jerks.

I suggest a system of humiliation for the perpetrators - perhaps some kind of public admonishment by random strangers that is recorded for all time, and available globally 24/7.

Oh wait.

 

[blazed]

The OP was on his way to work whilst the other guy was walking his dog. Most likely an unemployed benefits thief listening to audiobooks on how to milk the system. The fact he was walking and not jogging with his dog tells me he was obese, combined with his benefits thieveing just a complete and utter liability.

Bravo for startling him, next time give him a kick up the arse as well.