Frank Krygowski wrote in
:

On 11/23/2014 10:38 AM, Andrew Chaplin wrote:

A warning device such as a bell or horn certainly is required in
Ontario and most other provinces in Canada under their various
versions of a "Highway Traffic Act." If you strike a pedestrian or
another cyclist and do not have one, they will likely charge you. The
warning device does not have to be eleborate, just a single-dinger
will do. Mine is a compact bell, and I had to attach it to the
handlebar stem since it will not fit around the Cinelli bars I ride.


When I looked up the bicycle ordinances in our little town, I found
that not only was a bell required, but it was actually illegal to
verbally warn a pedestrian! The ordinance said a bicyclist must warn a
pedestrian, and "the warning must be made only by a bell." In effect,
it was illegal to say "I'm passing on your left," or even "Excuse me."

And that wasn't the most ludicrous ordinance, either. Fortunately, it
wasn't too difficult for me to get Council to repeal _all_ the local
bicycle ordinances. That's because the Ohio Bicycle Federation got a
law passed that prohibited local bike ordinances that are fundamentally
different from state laws.

So now, the local cops are supposed to enforce only the much more
logical state laws.

Canada's constitutional set up has long precluded most such nonsense,
except where it concerns people riding on sidewalks. Tots on little
bicycles present not much of a hazard, yet some of their elders think they
can ride on the pavements or sidewalk at a rate of knots and incommode the
passers-by.
--
Andrew Chaplin
SIT MIHI GLADIUS SICUT SANCTO MARTINO
(If you're going to e-mail me, you'll have to get "yourfinger." out.)