Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has angered cycling groups by appearing to discount them as road users during a discussion in the House of Commons.
"Where you have cycle lanes, cyclists are the users of cycle lanes and the road users are the users of the road... It's fairly straightforward, to be honest," he told MPs, after Labour's Daniel Zeichner asked him to clarify "exactly who he thinks road users are".
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
His comments yesterday have already proved controversial, with Zeichner suggesting the Transport Secretary does not understand his brief.
Cycling Weekly reports Grayling's description "caused consternation among cycling campaigners", while national charity Cycling UK pointed out that the law defines bikes as "legal carriages" on the road.
Former Olympic cyclist Chris Boardman, now policy adviser for British Cycling, said he "felt embarrassed" for Grayling.
He told The Guardian: "The Transport Secretary's comments demonstrate an astonishing lack of knowledge about how seven million people regularly use the roads in this country.
"If he truly thinks the roads are not for cyclists, then what am I paying my taxes for?"
This is not Grayling's only run-in with cyclists. In December, he was caught on camera knocking over a cyclist as he opened his car door. Junior transport minister Andrew Jones described it as "an unfortunate accident".
-
The latest entry in Ethan Coen's queer trilogy, a Jeff Buckley documentary and the rare children's horror flick in August moviesthe week recommends The month's film releases include 'Honey Don't!,' 'It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley' and 'Sketch'
-
Switzerland could experience unique economic problems from Trump's tariffsIn the Spotlight The current US tariff rate on Switzerland is among the highest in the world
-
The NCAA is a 'billion-dollar sports behemoth' that 'should not be a nonprofit'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
