Cyclists, ring those bells

A chara, – Having just survived, yet again, and narrowly, being sliced in two by a silent cyclist coming up behind me, I am crying to the heavens for the sound of bells.

Cyclists are everywhere now, especially here in Dún Laoghaire, where our traffic system has been overhauled (I refrain from writing “ruined”) to give cyclists parity along the seafront.

Environmental concerns are vital, but I am not getting into that argument. But anyone who values their health and bodily integrity can get very fed up with the numerous times it is necessary to leap briskly out of the way when perceiving the silent cyclist at the last minute.

Why do cyclists not ring their bells?

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When I asked one senior gentleman cyclist if he had a bell, in reasonable tones, I was immediately accused of being abusive.

It seems to me that Hobbes’s war of all against all is imminent, with the cyclists on one side and pedestrians on the other.

The law (1963, amended) is that all bicycles in Ireland must have a bell.

Folks, please use them. – Is mise,

ANGELA LONG,

Dún Laoghaire,

Co Dublin.