Letter: Remembered bells

Letter:

Remembered bells

Sir: Quentin King is fortunate indeed if the cyclists of Brighton "show polite respect for pedestrians" (letter, 3 September). I have always walked whenever possible in central London, in suburbs and in the country, and am sorry to say that, in my experience, polite cyclists are increasingly the exception rather than the rule. While I can sympathise with their problems, these do not give the right to ignore traffic lights or pedestrian crossings, go the wrong way up one-way streets, ride on pavements when the road is perfectly safe, or hassle pedestrians.

What really puzzles me, however, is the disappearance of the bicycle bell. Nowadays the standard methods of alerting pedestrians are a shout, an aggressive whistle, or a sudden screech of brakes from behind accompanied by (at best) a glare. The old bell was clear and friendly. Can anyone tell me where it has gone?

JOHN BURCHELL

Old Coulsdon,

Surrey