Left-turning HGVs: can an air horn save you?

Eurostar · June 2007

Been reading the Fulham Rd/Pelham Rd accident thread - I have had the odd near miss from a left-turning HGV. It's really frightening knowing you are helpless and can't alert the driver because he can't hear you shouting. I have often wondered whether an air horn (e.g. the Air Zound) might one day save my life in these situations. Anybody got any interesting Air Zound anecdotes to relate? How do drivers and peds react to the sound of one? I don't suppose they associate it with a bicycle...they must think it's a football fan or a stupid kid.

Archcp · June 2007

Can't give you anedotal evidence, never had an Airzound, but I do wonder if they'd have the desired effect - most likely would make the driver jump, and maybe slam brakes on, but it might make them swerve, and if they swerve into you, that's even worse...

Same with pedestrians - if they leap to one side, and that's the side you happen to be trying to pass them, that's bad...

If I had a baby elephant, it could help me clean the car. If I had a car.

Jacomus-rides-Gen · June 2007

The sound of an emergency services siren is one of the most chilling sounds when you don't know where it is coming from, but know that you can hear it before the drivers. Then when you realise its coming from behind and that cars are going to start throwing themselves all over the place any minute, its not good! Time to bail and get off the road (if you are me [;)]) I'd rather an ungainly shuffle onto the pavement in road shoes and Look cleats, than decorating the pavement.

_________________________
Quote: "25mph is pretty fast when you aren't wearing a car..."

Classic33 · June 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Arch

Can't give you anedotal evidence, never had an Airzound, but I do wonder if they'd have the desired effect - most likely would make the driver jump, and maybe slam brakes on, but it might make them swerve, and if they swerve into you, that's even worse...

Same with pedestrians - if they leap to one side, and that's the side you happen to be trying to pass them, that's bad...

If I had a baby elephant, it could help me clean the car. If I had a car.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Use of Airzound horn makes little difference. Chances are that the driver won't hear it, or, if he does he may end up looking for a larger vehicle on his right side.
Use of the horn on car drivers has to be seen. One went from 30 mph+, to a dead stop in less than twenty feet.
The only other vehicle on the same side being the bike he'd just gone to close too.

Eurostar · June 2007

So is it pointless? Have you ever been pleased you had it?

jonathan ellis · June 2007

I dont think i'd like to find out

my airhorn gets used 3 or 4 times a week on average.
As soon as it goes off cars etc slow up and find the source of the noise then realise its just a cyclist and carry on as normal.

I imagine it would make someone look in the mirror to see the source, but i havent had the exact problem you asking here.

Ive had 3 of them now and wouldnt be without one

T800 · June 2007

No!

 Just a pic of my bike.
<hr noshade size="1">
So, after a lot of thought, I'd like to reconsider. Please, if it's not too late, make it a cheeseburger.

jel · June 2007

Not worth the risk even discussing. Sorry. if you do **** up enough/have the misfortune to find yourself on the left of a left turning lorry don;t even bother with the airzound: take avoiding action,

BShane · June 2007

Getting turned left on ( or right in my case US ) requires evasive action as in my experience the driver must know your there in most cases as he just partially overtook you and couldn't give a s*** about a cyclist. If you are doing the undertaking then you're riding carelessly.

I had an airhorn on my bike and it was excellent for getting the attention of dopey motorists and pedestrians. Racing in traffic at rush hour with trains going overhead and overly competitive, stressed out drivers taking all kinds of liberties was much safer as I could get a drivers attention. As for ped's it was also very effective. When bikes and ped's share a lane the ped's get dreamy ( I do it myself ) and wonder offlane, which is highly annoying to highly focussed cyclists. The airhorn really wakes them up in a way that a bell ,or my buddy's police issue cycle siren , just don't.

BentMikey · June 2007

I've used the airzound on a left hooking car before, and it had the desired effect. I think it's very useful for using with vehicular traffic, but I don't have one on my fixed wheel, only on the recumbent. I guess that's partly because on the recumbent I can use the airzound and yet not compromise my braking and gear changing. I'm not sure it works so well on a set of upright handlebars, as I'd rather my hands were on the brakes when the shlt hits the fan.

So I think it might work on an HGV as an absolute last ditch attempt to avoid something that had already gone catastrophically wrong, but I'd want to be thinking about doing quite a few other things well before that moment:

http://www.londonskaters.com/cycling/sa ... hicles.htm

My bikes
My skates

If I had a baby elephant, I'd teach it to skate.

hevipedal · June 2007

The answer surely must always be for riders NOT to go down the inside of HGVs and buses.

 Hevipedal 
Phrase of the week - I've got a bike. You can ride it if you like.
It's got a basket, a bell that rings and
Things to make it look good.
I'd give it to you if I could, but I borrowed it.
 
51yrs old and Proud of it - Made it to 87kg 2 more to go for the target.
Pedal to Paris Sept 2007

AndyGates · June 2007

Absolutely.

And if you find yourself there for whatever reason, get out. Bail onto the pavement unless Railings Of Death are installed.

It takes a moment to realise you're in trouble, another to reach for the horn button and hit it, and then to get back to the controls. My experience was that I could better spend that time getting out of trouble.

Noisemakers have their place, but moments of eek are not it. You have better things to be doing, viz, saving your life.

No longer looking for a pennyfarthing as I've got some powerbocks instead. Casualty here I come!
It is by will alone I set my ride in motion.

Archcp · June 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Jacomus-rides-Gen

The sound of an emergency services siren is one of the most chilling sounds when you don't know where it is coming from, but know that you can hear it before the drivers. Then when you realise its coming from behind and that cars are going to start throwing themselves all over the place any minute, its not good! Time to bail and get off the road (if you are me [;)]) I'd rather an ungainly shuffle onto the pavement in road shoes and Look cleats, than decorating the pavement.

_________________________
Quote: "25mph is pretty fast when you aren't wearing a car..."
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Yup, as soon as I get tell where the siren is coming from, I'm looking for ways to get out of the way, and it's often way before any car driver near me seems to be aware. If I'm waiting at lights or in a tailback, I often make a very exagerrated performance of looking around for the siren, in the hope that the nearest drivers will see me looking around and wonder what I'm looking for... I don't know if it works...

But back to airzounds - like ringing my bell, I think my priority, is always to have hands on the bars, covering the brakes in an emergency, rather than reaching for a bell or horn. Just like in a car, if you have time to blast your horn rather than concentrating on avoiding a hazard, the horn is perhaps not needed...

If I had a baby elephant, it could help me clean the car. If I had a car.

BentMikey · June 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by AndyGates

It takes a moment to realise you're in trouble, another to reach for the horn button and hit it, and then to get back to the controls.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

This is not always true, but it does seem to be the case for uprights. Which is why I don't have an airzound on my upwrong.

My bikes
My skates

If I had a baby elephant, I'd teach it to skate.

Mosschops2 · June 2007

I have an Air Zound, and no, it wouldn't stop an HGV. It's loud enough to "wake up" car drivers, when you are anywhere around the car, but an HGV driver would realistically have to a) notice and b) look for you before taking any action - which I believe is reasonable.

If there is any liklihood than an HGV is turning left - sounds stupid - but I just wouldn't even get to be in that position. On my daily commute, I'm confident that I have never been down the left of an HGV or bus when they have been wanting to turn left. It's actually pretty rare that I find myself down the left in any case - normally when they are overtaking, when normally they give me plenty of room 95% of the time.

Air Zounds are fairly loud, although are unlikely to be confused with an Intercity 125 - not really deafening. As loud as say, the horn on a H reg Volkswagen Polo or Mini. At best, will attact attention of cars, not under any circumstances to be used as defence against 18 wheelers!!!

Have you ever tried pressing Alt+F4 ??

AndyGates · June 2007

About once a year, tops, I find myself on the inside of a long thing going left. Every time I think "bugger, that was wrong".

For riders who aren't sure how to avoid getting there: (1) don't go up the inside of long vehicles, (2) if you're at the junction, sit in the middle of the lane to stop them sneaking past.

(I think the reason Zounds are so good on car drivers is that the horn is at window-height. They're even better on convertibles...)

No longer looking for a pennyfarthing as I've got some powerbocks instead. Casualty here I come!
It is by will alone I set my ride in motion.

Left-turning HGVs: can an air horn save you?

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