On Your Left: Calling Out Verbal Warnings
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Written by admin on July 8, 2008 – 10:33 am
One of my personal pet peeves is cyclists who ride past and don’t call out “on your left” or some other derivative. I try to be cognizant of what’s going on around me and I try and listen for other cyclists coming up behind me, but sometimes I’m not as focused as I could be and it really helps to have a verbal warning that someone is about to pass. I don’t think I’m alone in this matter.
For me, the biggest potential problem with passing without warning is that you can’t see what’s ahead of the person in front of you. They could be about to swerve out to avoid a pothole, pedestrian, or other obstacle that you can’t see and by not warning them, you are partly responsible for the consequences - whether it results in an accident or bad feelings on the part of the person you rushed by.
So I’m encouraging you all to make sure to call out a warning to the people you pass, both on bikes and pedestrians using the paths or sidewalks you’re on. It helps make our cycling community more pleasant and that can only encourage others to become a part of it.
I hate calling “on your left,” and I hate it when people call “on your left.” I’d much rather just be passed without trouble, or hear a bell. In fact, the fact that you’re pleading for “on your left” speaks volumes about how rare bicyclists are on the roadways here.
I lived in Cambridge, England for three years–quite possibly the most bicycle-mobile town in England. NOBODY warned while passing–it would have been silly. The bicycle rush hour there is fender-to-fender; if you passed a queue of cyclists on the right, you’d have to have lungs like Pavarotti to say “on your left” to all of them as you passed. (Imagine the “Papageno” aria from The Magic Flute).
Besides, automobiles don’t honk at each other when passing on the left.
“On your left” makes sense where there’s almost no traffic–a fair warning to someone who might otherwise be spooked. But in heavy traffic, it’s ridiculous to insist.
Oh, and you shouldn’t be on the sidewalks, either. Ouij - I hear what you’re saying and could envision circumstances where you wouldn’t need to warn cyclists you were passing while riding on the streets. The problem for me is that a significant portion of my commute is on the bike path and that’s mainly what I was referring to when I wrote this post. I would argue on the bike path, people aren’t racing along at 20+ mph in staggeringly long lines where you’d have to be constantly yelling out warnings. And for the non-cyclists on the path, I do think it’s important to let them know you’re coming.
As for riding on the sidewalks, I try to avoid it myself but recognize that not everyone is confident enough to ride in the road with cars. For those people who feel more comfortable riding on the sidewalks, I think they should call out warnings to the people they pass.
Rudi - I too have noticed the iPod issue and it’s very scary to me to come up on someone who’s bopping along listening to music. There are sometimes I think it’s vital to unplug yourself and join the world around you.
Tim - Good point about the bell not giving an indication about which direction you’ll be passed on, although to be fair, cyclists and pedestrians should be using the right part of the trail and passing on the left.
Lewen7er9 - That sucks! I was saw a cyclist wipe out because a truck tried to beat a red light and turned left before the cyclist who was coming the opposite direction. And I got hit by a dump truck who was making a right on red and not paying attention to me trying to cross the street. Cars have to learn how to share the road and cyclists need to make sure to follow the existing rules of the road to prevent us all from killing each other!
