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Road Cycling

Britain’s Transport Secretary Suggests Cyclists Don’t Count As Real Road Users

Controversial comments come after the Tory MP knocked a cyclists over with his car door

British Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling, has angered bike users by suggesting that cyclists do not count as road users. The shocking statement came after Labour’s Daniel Zeichner questioned Grayling about an interview he did in December last year in which he claimed that the cycle lanes in London “perhaps cause too much of a problem for road users.”.

Grayling responded to the questioning with “Where you have cycle lanes, cyclists are users of cycle lanes. And there’s a road along side – motorists are the road users, the users of the road. It’s fairly straightforward, to be honest.”.

“I feel embarrassed for him”

Grayling’s comments have caused shock and outrage among cyclists and non-cyclists alike. Former Olympian, Tour de France competitor, and legend of British cycling, Chris Boardman said “The transport secretary’s comments demonstrate an astonishing lack of knowledge about how seven million people regularly use the roads in this country. I feel embarrassed for him.”

The Olympic gold medallist added “If he truly thinks the roads are not for cyclists then what am I paying my taxes for? If there was ever anyone who needed to actually get on a bike and hear about the true state of cycling infrastructure, it is Chris Grayling and I’d be delighted to go on a ride with him.”.

Of course, this isn’t the first time the transport Secretary has found himself in hot water with the nation’s cyclists.

In October last year, Chris Grayling knocked a cyclist off his bike with his car door. Grayling got out to check if the prone cyclist, Jaiqi Liu was injured, but according to The Guardian, failed to leave his details at the scene of the incident.

Grayling belts out his version of Kraftwerk’s Tour de France at Karaoke – Photo: ChrisGrayling.com

He was only identified when another cyclist, Laurence deHoest checked the footage from his action camera and recognised Grayling from an interview where he, you guessed it, complained about cycle lanes.

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