Letters to the Editor,
The Daily Yomiuri,
6-17-1 Ginza,
Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-8243
I was irked by Dunstan Brooks’ bell-ringing suggestion in his October 29, 2011 Readers Forum letter “Riders should use bells.” Naturally a bicycle’s bell it to be used for safety, but Dunstan’s suggestion sounds like an invitation to over-use. The bell is like a motor vehicle’s horn in that it ought to be used in emergency situations only, not for casually announcing one’s presence. That was the intention of its invention. Over use puts the rider in danger of angry reactions from annoyed pedestrians because cyclists riding down the sidewalks constantly ringing their bells in warning are cruisin’ for a bruisin’. Are they trying to avoid trouble, or are they looking for it? I’d say that Dunstan’s students’ ambition to glide past pedestrians with quiet stealth is preferable.