The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-04-01
BICYCLE BELLS NOT RUNG.
COMPLAINT MADE THAT ORDI-
 NANCE IS NOT ENFORCED.

Riders Do Not Ring Their Bells at Cross
 ings as RequiPed--Several Accidents Have
 Resulted in Consequenoe--Police Should Receive Instructions to Enforce the Law.
 Numerous complaints are being heard
 on all sides to the effect that the ordi-
 nance de bells on bicycles is being most
 flagrantly violated every day, and al- though several Instances of such viola
 tions have been reported to the proper
 authorities, no arrests have been made,
 and apparently no action taken in the
 matter,
 The ordinance in question was pro- posed by Alderman Well last year and 1t was mainly through his efforts that it was finally adopted and took its place
 among the ordinances of the city. The
 ordinance reads as follows;
 There shall be attached to every bicy- cle or tricycle. ridden by any person
 within the limits of the city of New Ha-
 ven bell of sufficient power to be heard
 at distance of one hundred feet, and
 any person riding such bicycle or tricy-
 ole shall ring such bell whenever he
 approaches within thirty feet of any
 crosswalk or cross street within said
 oity. Any person violating this ordi-
 nance, or any part thereof, shall be
 fined sum not exceeding $25.
 When this ordinance was first adopt
 ed the police were Instructed in refer ence to 1t and for some time its provis- Ions were rIgldly lived up to, but lately, so the complainants say, there has been a laxity on the part of the riders in complying with the ordinance and on the part of the police In enforcing its provisions. As a result of this numer- ous accidents have been narrowly avert ed and several painful accidents have occurred.
 The complaint is made that the bicy- cle riders do not ring the bell, as re- quired by the ordinance, within thirty feet of the street crossings and in fact that the majority of riders do not ring the bell at all, and those who do only do so when either on the crossing or within a very few feet of it. They ar que that the ordinance should either be lived up to or repealed, and the police department should be instructed to ar rest each and every offender against the provisions of the ordinance.
 Tn speaking of the subject yesterday a well known resident said: The ordi- nance Is practically a dead eltter now, although at first its provisions were rig idly lived up to. Any one can stand at the corner of almost any street in the city and notice the truth of this state ment. When Alderman Veil first intro l duced the resolution 1t provided that bicycles and tricycles shduld be equip l ped with bills and lanterns, the latter to be used at night as an additional For some reason the court l of common council left out the provls- l ions for lanterns, but adopted that por- | tion of the resolution relating to the | ringing of bells.
 Even this, however, is not enforced | at present and the police do not seem I to make any effort to have 1t enforced. | I have seen patrolmen stand on the cor l ners and see bicycle go by without l the bell having been rung and yet have 1 made no attempt to either caution or | arrest the rider Only a short time ago 1 ] lady who had been waiting for a street | car and was about to step into it was | run down by bicycle rider and sert- | ously injured, being almost thrown un der the car. The rider did not ring his bell, as required by the ordinance. and was not even man enough to stop to see whether the victim of his criminal neg igence was seriously injured or not. This is but one instance, but I could cite several. The ordinance is a good ,ne and should be rigidly enforced, and unless it is serious accidents will, in my opinion, be the result of its non-enforce- nent. Now is the season of the year when 1t is proper to look after this mat er, and the police should be so instruct d. If it cannot be enforced let 1t be 'epeaIed, for there are now altogether oo many "dead letters" among the or lino~o1e- nF tLa otttr