Fashion-conscious cyclists are putting themselves and pedestrians in danger by rejecting bicycle bells as needless clutter on their handlebars, say campaigners.

Road safety groups say that a law imposed recently, forcing cycle shops to include a bell with every bike sold, has been undermined by shopkeepers who regard bells with contempt.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said that there was a culture among some retailers of telling customers that they are fitting bells only under duress. A spokesman cited a recent purchase by its head of road safety as an example of bad practice. “The shopkeeper said: ‘I have got to fit a bell to your bike, but it’s up to you whether you want me to tighten the nuts.’ That is not encouraging people.”

It is a criminal offence to sell a bicycle without a bell under the Pedal Bicycles (Safety) Regulations, which came into force in 2004, but shopkeepers admit privately that bells are as unwelcome on handlebars as baskets.

Chris Juden, of the Cyclists Touring Club, said that it is a matter of aesthetics. “Bells are a funny thing,” he said. “A lot of cycling enthusiasts have an aversion to clutter on the handlebars. A lot of people behind the shop counter are enthusiasts, who pass on those feelings to the customer. The dealer is probably the weak link in the chain. If he thinks it is silly, then he will pass the bell to the customer separately.”

The Association of Cycle Traders said that anecdotal evidence from discussions with its 850 members suggests that choosing not to fix bells was common practice despite the belief that they could reduce the number of accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists.

Around 205 pedestrians were hit by bicycles on roads in 2006, according to the Department of Transport. Three were killed and 43 injured seriously.

Andy Shrimpton, a director of ACT and a campaigner for cycling courtesy, said that the law requires shopkeepers only to include bells with bicycles, not to attach them.

“Some customers, if they’re buying a posh sports bike, feel that it is an affront to their masculinity to have a bell. A sports bike, like a sports car, is meant to be sexy. Anything that makes it seem like a family car is not sexy.”

The Government suggested fining cyclists who rode without a bell in 2006, but the idea was shelved after it was ridiculed widely. Stephen Ladyman, then Transport Minister, proposed that riders caught without a bell should receive on-the-spot fines of up to £2,500 or two years in jail.

Graeme Obree, the Scottish cyclist who once held the world record for the longest distance cycled in an hour, described the proposal as a “pointless exercise in red tape”. He said: “If a cyclist is about to hit a pedestrian, they’ re not going to hit a bell – they are going to shout. What bobby is going to enforce a law like this? Only civil servants could come up with crazy ideas like this.”

Mr Shrimpton said that bicycle bells had been controversial since the time of the penny-farthing. He cited a letter, written in 1885 by an irate correspondent to the Cyclist’s Touring Club Monthly Gazette, that demanded to know whether cyclists who rang their bells were “politely asking” or “peremptorily demanding”.

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• Fern Britton: 'I still can't see that I was wrong'
• Extreme cooking
• Easy French: Tarte Tatin