@dec23k

So, in the use-case scenario here, I'm on my bike, and I see that there's a person walking/wheeling ahead of me and they're wearing noise cancelling headphones.

Question:

Why do I need a bell?

Assumptions:

(a) If they're ahead of me and in my path, I'm either on a footpath, shared path, or carriageway;

(b) I have seen them.

Answers:

(b) I have seen them;

(a) If I'm on a footpath, I need to move; if I'm on a shared path, I need to wait; if I'm on a carriageway, I need to wait.

@clickhere @dec23k My use case for bells is that there are people ahead of me walking in the road, and I want to let them know I'm there when I'm far enough away that I won't startle them when passing politely (assuming it is safe to do so). Some people prefer a bell to a call -- sometimes a bell announces "bicycle" rather than "runner" in a way people prefer.

I don't cycle on paths or the pavement.

@ravenbait @dec23k Oh yeah, in general, I use a bell now and then, in a fairly similar way.

But if I see that someone has noise cancelling headphones - or otherwise doesn't seem to have reacted to the sound of the bell (they may be deaf or hard of hearing) - then I'll adjust what I'm doing. (Like, I won't barge past, usually just take my time and wait for an opportunity to pass safely.)

But this over-engineered, highly specific use-case? Nah.

@clickhere @ravenbait
I just saw something vaguely interesting in a video, and saw that nobody on Fedi had written about it. So I wrote something on Fedi about it, and then more than 100 accounts liked or boosted it.

The video has quotes about "working with partners" in London, and "sharing this with the world", but Skoda seem to have only made enough bells for the field test, and aren't trying to sell them.

Maybe they just want more people to be aware of Škoda's bicycle-manufacturer origins?