Originally Posted by
Iride01
I never made the connection of distance not startling the person you are passing. But with some exceptions for very noob walkers and cyclist, I think you are on to something there.
One of the benefits to me from announcing as reasonably far away as I can be heard is that I get to see their reaction in time for me to react.
One of the reasons I'm always so careful to say "this is what works for me" is that I've done enough public speaking and a little stage acting so that I'm very adept at announcing loudly without sounding like I'm bellowing. People's voices vary so much that I don't know whether they could announce as far back as I do and have it be effective and/or perceived as non-hostile.
I first noticed the startle effect at a street fair. The street was blocked off, and I pedaled my bike at about walking speed (definitely less than 3 mph). I was behind an old man, maybe 10 feet back before I decided I could pass him a good 7-8 feet to his left. As I passed him at maybe 5 mph, he actually yelled because he was so startled, and said something about me nearly hitting him. From his perspective, it looked like I flew out of nowhere and then slowed, I guess. Whereas, if they know I'm coming, I can pass at 20 mph, and it's a total non-event, provided the path is wide enough so we're not right next to each other.