Safety – On Your Left
By Ann Morrow
How many times have we yelled out “on your left” while riding our bikes? It’s a customary practice to keep others on the road or path with us informed of our presence. It helps our fellow cyclists to plot their course knowing we are in the vicinity. Knowing that we are nearby may reduce their options if they encounter a problem such as glass in the road or another cyclist suddenly stops in front of them. They now know moving left is not a solution to the problem or at least should be considered carefully.
On the Springwater or Trolley or Banks-Vernonia trails we call out “on your left” to pedestrians (along with other cyclists) who are moving along slower than we are. If you have functioned as a pedestrian you have probably been startled by people coming up from behind you stealthily. Maybe they didn’t mean to be stealthy, and we know some are seemingly incapable of being stealthy even if they try, but the point is, a little warning helps us share the path and spares us from an accelerated heart rate, if only for a few seconds.
In my opinion, the premise is good. Information is usually beneficial. The problems seem to arise when the recipient of the information (“on your left”) does not understand its meaning and therefore is unclear about what to do in response. A common misunderstanding is hearing “left” and thinking they need to MOVE left. I had this happen long ago on a bike path in Vancouver. The walker, upon hearing my “on your left,” glanced back, ran left and climbed up a cyclone fence! Extreme to be sure, but moving left is a typical response from those that either don’t know what we are saying (sometimes earbuds or language barriers are factors) or what we mean.
A recent article,Cyclists are ditching the phrase ‘on your left’ after shared-path warnings spark safety debate, by Aaron Goldstein, suggested that saying “behind you” is better “because it identifies the rider’s position without relying on a direction that can be misread.” The article discusses the bell option as well: “it seems like my bell is just a pedestrian randomizer [that creates] abject panic.” One commenter stated that “Nothing works.”
Safety is at the heart of the matter. Considering the above scenarios, we can appreciate that crashes may occur. We don’t want crashes.
What are your thoughts and/or experiences? What do you do in some of these situations? Send them along to me and I will compile them to facilitate our own PBC discussion of this ongoing issue. [email protected], subject line “LEFT”
Final note: years ago, in the mid 90’s, my riding friends and I had custom T-shirts that said on the back, “I know, you’re on my left!” We got a lot of laughs as the many faster riders passed us.