Editorial: Bell debate waste of time

The bike bell debate in Tauranga council at the moment is a waste of times, says Amy Wiggins.

Surely Tauranga City Council has more important issues to deal with than making bells on bicycles compulsory.

Councillor Gail McIntosh raised the issue at Friday's council meeting and the rest of the elected members agreed to consider it.

I'm not a regular cyclist but I've done my share of bike riding and have never had a bell or felt that I needed one.

Yes, cyclists do need to be considerate and cautious when sharing a path with walkers but there are plenty of ways to do so without a bell.

Slow down a little and give them a wide berth when passing. If it's narrow follow behind them until there is room to pass.

If some sort of warning is necessary a polite "excuse me" does the trick.

What difference does it make if you use a bell or politely call out? It's common sense and common courtesy. A bell could be just as frightening for walkers and has the potential to be irritating as well.

When I was a kid I would have taken great delight in ringing it loudly and regularly - I'm sure I would not have been the only one.

It's just another expense for residents and another thing for council officers to enforce.

Making cyclists wear helmets is hard enough to enforce. Making sure people have bells on their bikes would be near impossible.

Any sort of by-law making it compulsory will take hours of discussion, deliberation and paper work and likely make very little difference.

It's an issue I think the council should drop before it goes any further.

There are other more pressing issues that will benefit the whole city instead of just a handful of walkers concerned about the actions of a small group of inconsiderate cyclists.

They should be spending time and money on ways to revitalise downtown Tauranga, bring more people to the city and making sure our infrastructure is sufficient for a growing population.

Put the money and time into widening the Turret Rd bridge and 15th Ave or maybe a museum for the city.

We need decisions and action on the real issues that could improve our city.