That might work for a few weeks. Then we’d need a train whistle, then a jet engine, then …
I personally find that having a loud bell, slowing down and ringing the bell from quite far away gets a postive response. I've had quite alot of "thank you" from pedestrians using this technique.When I started biking, I used the bell that came with it. But the reaction seemed to me to be mostly negative. People jumped as if severely startled and several reacted to being startled by getting snotty with me. So I removed the bell and relied upon a discrete cough. That seemed to work for a while until folk started walking about with earbuds, so a discrete cough no longer worked. "Why don't get get a bloody bell!" started to become a common response. Then one of the bikes I bought had one of those hubs that sound like a machine gun when I stopped pedalling. That worked until I sold the bike. Back to coughing, same problems as before. So I started calling out "excuse me, passing on your right". But with the ear buds, I had to shout to make myself heard and again people reacted badly.
Now I have one of the "Oi!" bells that is my first attempt to pass; I start pinging it from about 50' away. It is discrete but has a penetrating tone. (Doesn't look like a bell either, which is good). Then comes my request to pass. If none of that works, and by now I'm down to walking speed, I eventually have to raise my voice to power through the earbuds. And I still get some folk jerking in surprise as the real world eventually cuts through. No doubt such people believe that all cyclist's are ignorant speed merchants!
I'm always polite, but there is no pleasing some people. I'm a cyclist, end of!
How about we add a couple more sounds like... a choo-choo train sound, and a buffalo stampede sound? ?
We used to tape these onto our bikes in the late 70s, early 80s.
