The Nanny State vs. the Bicycle
Posted: December 27th, 2007 by PinchieAuthorities in Japan are considering a new cycling law that would make it illegal to use a cell phone while riding a bike. I’d call that legislating the obvious, but it’s actually surprising how many urban cyclists you see chatting on the blower while spinning through traffic.
Perhaps more interesting to American bike commuters: Additionally, the law would penalize cyclists for inapproprate or excessive bell ringing.
The report filed on Thursday suggested banning cyclists from pedaling while: using a mobile phone; listening to music with headphones on; and randomly ringing the bell to avoid trouble with others.
I’m no acoustics engineer, but I’d guess a very strange set of circumstances must accrue to create a situation where random bicycle bell-ringing rises to the level of a social problem.
December 27th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
Most bicyclists here in Shiga and Kyoto, Japan, are pretty quiet, so I don’t know where they get the bell ringing idea. The mobile phone and music player parts make a lot of sense, although I doubt that anyone will actually obey the law outside of cities. A lot of high school kids here in Shiga text with one hand while they listen to their media players. They ride slowly in wide S patterns.