Nearly knocked off a guy on a BSO this morning.

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

redddraggon

Blondie
Location
North Wales
http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&h...WZ-0uaPJr_jPvLhu8OrsBw&cbp=12,246.36,,0,14.86

I was going in the direction of the city centre (left to right in the image) and about to turn left into the sideroad. I had caught up with the guy on the BSO 50m or so from the junction, but there was no need to pass him as I was going to turn left anyway and I hate it when I'm on the bike and people pass me only to jump on the brakes and turn left. So I left the dude plenty of space

So he gets past the stop line - lights are on green, but pulls up right against the kerb, stops, takes his feet off the pedals, left foot on the kerb, so I go to carry on around him. Just as I am about to start turning, he pulls away perpendicular to the road direction in front of me oblivious to the fact that there's a car right next to him. Presumably using the pedestrian crossing to cross the road and get on the cycle path to UMIST. Luckily for him, I was going pretty slowly, and I was keeping an eye on him, so I was able to break. Now if I'd been on my bike I probably would have been taking the corner far faster, and the outcome would have been worse for both of us.

Now if I was a non-cyclist driver, and didn't have respect for cyclists and didn't realise the general lack of common sense of BSO-riders I might have been going a bit faster and things would have happened differently. No wonder a lot of drivers become anti-cyclist.
 

martint235

Dog on a bike
Location
Welling
Sorry for my ignorance but what's a BSO? :blush:

M
 

Rob3rt

Man or Moose!
Location
Manchester
That area is a f*cking joke, there is no sensible way to access the cycle lane down to sackville street, the cycle lane is poorly designed and the exit is a sharp left that is near hidden by bollards and a huge concrete brudge support. Despite his clueless tendencies I sypathise with the other cyclist in regards to the confusion that area causes. He should have been more aware though.

I admitt to skipping that ped crossing to get onto the cycle lane once or twice, usually from the outside lane though, not cutting accross traffic. Usually go straight ahead down to the roundabout though since the amount of peds walking in the cycle lane is stupendous! How come you turn down Grosvenor street, isnt that away from your uni building?
 

benb

Evidence based cyclist
Location
Epsom
redddraggon said:
... I was going pretty slowly, and I was keeping an eye on him, so I was able to break ...

*brake

Break is what might have happened had you hit him.

[/PEDANT]
 
OP
OP
redddraggon

redddraggon

Blondie
Location
North Wales
Rob3rt said:
That area is a f*cking joke, there is no sensible way to access the cycle lane down to sackville street, the cycle lane is poorly designed and the exit is a sharp left that is near hidden by bollards and a huge concrete brudge support. Despite his clueless tendencies I sypathise with the other cyclist in regards to the confusion that area causes. He should have been more aware though.

I admitt to skipping that ped crossing to get onto the cycle lane once or twice, usually from the outside lane though, not cutting accross traffic. Usually go straight ahead down to the roundabout though since the amount of peds walking in the cycle lane is stupendous! How come you turn down Grosvenor street, isnt that away from your uni building?

I use the ped crossing too, but I indicate to go right early and then go into the right lane, and use the ped crossing to get across the other lane.

But I really can't understand what the dude was thinking this morning, why stop and then dive in front of traffic behind you while there is still a green light. All he had to do was wait until the light went red and then crossed the road and then his foolish actions wouldn't have been so foolish. It might be a poorly designed junction etc, but surely that means you take extra care? This guy didn't even bother looking before pulling in front of me.

My building is right where the incident happened. And I was just pulling in.
 

Rob3rt

Man or Moose!
Location
Manchester
I said I sympathise with his confusion, not his behaviour :o) he shouldnt be on the road if he cant navigate a ped crossing!

Yes I realise which building is yours now, I lived in the halls opposite it for a couple of years on my undergrad.
 

Matthames

Über Member
Location
East Sussex
AndyCarolan said:
I wonder what the requirements are for a bike to be considered a BSO?

I would say any mass produced bike that has been built so cheaply that quality control is just a consideration and that the bike is being sold at a major named supermarket instead of bike shops or major chain of bike shops.
 
Top Bottom