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Former chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Cycling Group writes to Prime Minister about Grayling incident
The former chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Cycling Group has written to the Prime Minister and police to ask what action will be taken following the incident in which Transport Secretary Chris Grayling knocked a cyclist off his bike with a car door.
Ian Austin, Labour MP for Dudley North, agrees with Cycling UK that Grayling committed at least one traffic offence.
He cites Regulation 105 of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986: “No person shall open, or cause or permit to be opened, any door of a vehicle on a road so as to injure or endanger any person.”
In addition, Section 170 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 requires details to be provided in a collision which results in injury to another road user (or to an animal, or damage to another vehicle or other nearby property). Failing that, the person must report the incident to the police (under subsection 3) with failure to do either an offence.
Austin writes:
“Film of the incident shows that Mr Grayling’s door had been flung open, hitting the cyclist and leaving the rider in a state of shock on the pavement. Mr Grayling left after speaking to the cyclist but did not give his details.
“Paul Maynard, a junior Transport Minister, who was also in the car, can be seen swiftly walking away, whilst Mr Grayling’s special adviser Simon Jones hides his identity badge in his pocket.”
Austin says the incident, which took place in October, highlights the vulnerability of cyclists and then goes on to highlight claims subsequently made by Grayling that cycle lanes in the capital are poorly designed on the grounds that, “there are places where they perhaps cause too much of a problem for road users.”
“This shows how vulnerable cyclists are and it does show how careful we all have to be.
“Opening a car door in a way that injures someone is an offence and can result in serious injury and even death. Despite this, Mr Grayling didn’t even provide his details so he could pay for the damage, Mr Maynard couldn’t get away quick enough and their adviser tried to hide his identity badge.
“Anyone can make a mistake, but I don’t think you can have a Secretary of State who has injured another road user, could have committed an offence and failed even to provide his details afterwards.
“And then later, after causing this incident, the Secretary of State complained about cyclists and cycle lanes in London.
“Can I ask what investigation has been carried out into this incident and what action will be taken against Mr Grayling as a result?”
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
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This is getting somewhat bizzare. The BBC featured the Andrew Mitchell plebgate affair 24/7 for months, but they will not mention this case, of a minister responsible for road safety knocking off a cyclist, failing to exchange details, hiding their parliamentary pass and not reporting it to the police. Which one is more newsworthy?
I've been in touch with BBC Newswatch to ask them to feature this case, and it would help if other people did too: 03700106676, newswatch [at] bbc.co.uk
Excellent point -
this should seriously be taken up.
No
Nobody gets up in the morning thinking "I know, today I will drive so badly that I will kill someone", but still we lose 5 a day, day in day out. Most think they are a good driver, and yet inattention, speeding and phone use are endemic. Something is wrong, so very wrong.
It's a bit dark, I know, but I try to make eye contact, not so that they will see me, treat me as a fellow human being and not drive into me, though that might help, it's that, just in case they do drive into me and kill me, then that shred of human decency that may be in them will cause them to spend the rest of their miserable lives waking, screaming from the nightmare of seeing my face in the moment before they take a human life. Then again 5% of people are psychopaths. Told you it was dark.
You've got the cause and effect right there.
If you take a representative sample of people and ask them how they fare at pretty much anything, significantly more than half will tell you they're better than average, which can't be the case*. Loads of studies on this - including with driving as the topic. Throw in how mundane it is (commuting, dropping kids off, shopping) for most journeys, and it's the perfect storm - and there's not a lot you can do about human nature.
You either protect people so much they can't be KSI'd (seemingly impossible) or you take the responsibility of operating deadly machinery for everyday travel away from the majority of them.
Governments won't solve this, but companies are having a go with self-driving cars.
*It's often people who know a subject well, and who appreciate its complexities, who will rate themselves lower; the converse is also the case.
Awavey, a good point, but this isn't just anti tory bias, from me anyway.
If there is anyone who should know their duties and responsibilities, both under the law and the Highway code, you would think it would be the former justice secretary and current secretary of state for transport Chris Grayling. This is not the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Wales Office, if it were we probably wouldn't have had a front page of the Guardian, and 4 stories (3 posts and 1 forum) on our wonderful Road.cc. (by the way it's Guto Bebb MP, who knew, I will admit at this point I have gone to wiki, found out the layering of our government, and picked him out, I'm sure he works very hard for our Welsh bretherin, and is truely dedicated in the role given to him. He is incredibly Welsh after all)
I'm quite sure that if any previous former justice secretaries and current secretary of state for transport had done similar, the the furore would be similar. But here is where it becomes very inconvenient for Grayling, and that, for us at least has created the perfect shitstorm. There are now enough helmet cams out there, that one of these caught the incident, that the owner of that helmet cam kept the footage, that the person responsible for all of this then appeared on TV because of his incompetent role in the Southern Trains debacle, that the possessor of the footage then managed to identify this one particular oldish, fattish, bald and completely forgettable white man from all of the other oldish, fattish, bald and completely forgettable white men out there, that the helmet cam cyclist cared enough and found it easy enough to send it to the Guardian, who then put it on their website and front page and that Road.cc exists so that we can comment to our hearts content.
There are several others, who if they had done something similar, we may be equally or more incensed about. I am thinking of Jeremy C, former illustrious leader Dave, and Boris. And maybe Stephen Byers ( remember him) who, under Tony, was slated for being a transport minister who could not drive, and therefore would not be able to identify with the problems of drivers. But then, if they were exiting an official car in the middle of central London, where cyclists may soon outnumber private motorists, they might FUCKING LOOK. (I have broken my try not to swear rule, grrr, but then I couldn't really express that sentiment without) And then victim blame the cyclist, who because they didn't look, and therefore couldn't see, accused them of fault by "going to fast"
Or that they had just given an interview in the Standard and who said "too many cyclists who ignored the rules of the road" and "too many riders ignored red traffic lights on their journeys in the capital" and "Motorists in London have got to be immensely careful of cyclists" and "cyclists in London are too often unwilling to obey the road signs" and "good cycling is responsible cycling". And of course "I’m trying hard as Transport Secretary not to get caught doing anything I am not supposed to do". Not trying quite hard enough I believe, the right honerable Mr Chris Grayling.
I Thank You, I do hope you have enjoyed my hopefully better written and understandable little rant. I'm off to make pie. What a way to start a Sunday.
It wasn't a little rant, it was a long diatribe, which I and many others have not read. If you can't sum up your arguments in a few sentences, they probably aren't worth making.
I read it Burt - it wasn't for you :p
I worry that by needlessly politicising the incident and demanding excessive penalties, sackings and linking it will all kinds of other goverment nonsense, simply just because Mr Grayling is such a likeable chap, we are missing the point somewhat.
Grayling didnt fling the door open because he hates cyclists, he flung it open because like most motorists view of the world, he doesnt appreciate the responsibility for not dooring someone lies with the person opening that door, and then he didnt report it to the police or exchange details, because like most motorists again he probably didnt appreciate he had to
it would be a far better outcome if that appreciation of detail of the responsibilities of motorists whether driving or being driven, when opening doors was then better widely more understood and it changed for a positive for all, than attempting to overly punish someone for their mistake, as thats really the kind of attitude that leads us to desiging roads where cyclists end up punished for their mistakes with the loss of their life.
I get your point, in that it shouldn't be about punishing Grayling merely for being Grayling. But I honestly don't think I agree with it. The issue is that you can 'educate' people, in the sense of 'awareness campaigns' and 'putting the information out there' till you are blue in the face, but a critical part of education over such things is enforcement.
That is, people tend to operate on a 'need to know basis'. They won't learn something unless there is a benefit to them from doing so (or a cost for not doing so). If there are no real penalties for dooring, then people won't learn not to do it however much the issue is publicised.
Though the better way to achieve if of course is to get more people cycling. I know I am downright paranoid about looking when opening car doors, precisely because I cycle and so am scared of being the perpetrator in a horribly ironic dooring incident.
that seems to me to be overly pessimistic about people. In general people do not want to do others harm, and when they're made sufficiently aware of things like the risk of dooring someone then they behave properly out of normal decency, or at worst enlightened self interest (which is perhaps what decency is anyway), rather than fear of punishment.
Does anybody know where the actual responsibility to report lies, in this case? Presumably the driver, as ever? If so, it doesn't really absolve Grayling because he's the doorer without much understanding for cyclists. Is his driver working for him, or the government? I assume the Graun has double-checked his driver hasn't actually reported it?
And it wouldn't absolve the driver, who is at the very least a professional driver (possibly a member of the plod?).
The general tone for this is 'one rule for them, another rule for us' and whether it's a secretary of state, or his driver, or a government driver, who hasn't been arsed to report it, it does smell of slimey self-preservation.
Yes, you're probably right. But ignorance of the law is no defence. And given his experience of the legal sector, he should be more aware of that than others. It does look as if he deliberately tried to sweep this under the carpet. For that he should be sacked from his role. He should also be taken to court for what is after all, a criminal offence.
As a person in a "leadership" role, this is a clear fail. I give him a 3 out of 10... for stopping, getting out of the car and (appearingly) showing some empathy. That's it! Otherwise there was a lot wrong with what we saw...
Firstly there was a clear breach of road rules which should be redressed. No one should get away with this sort of behaviour. It does nothing for changing people's future behaviour and attitudes. If you can fine someone for simply parking in the wrong place, surely, at the very least, we should be fining people, who by their wrongful actions, cause harm to others. These are the rules and they need to be followed... full stop!
Secondly, there was no exchange of details in case of subsequent discovery of damage to man or machine. After such an incident, people do experience differing degrees of shock. When that wears off and you have the ability to seeing things clearly again, you might discover that something's not quite right. If one subsequently requires a bike fix or medical treatment, of course the "guilty" party should foot the bills. If a bike accidently scratches a car while going inbetween traffic, I'm sure any driver would expect the same treatment (and that doesn't even involve personal injury).
Thirdly, as a people's representative, he should be setting an example for all to follow and if that means exagerating a bit... all the better for it. In his position I would've thrown the bike in the back of that tank of a car, then driven the person to their work place and phoned them at lunchtime to check that things were still ok. That's the way to do it you moron!
There was a time when a Minister would have resigned his post over something like this. And with this Minister's brief being road safety, it's frankly intolerable that he should think of doing anything except resigning.
But he's a pretty clear example of a slimy career politician, so he'll be expecting to smarm his way out of it.
Even worse is that he subsequently made statements criticising cyclists and the infrastructure. Conflict of interest? No more than Trump.
Taken from the letters page of todays Guardian-
As the transport secretary is now a little more aware of the safety issues surrounding the opening of a door, can we look forward to a prompt resolution to the current rail dispute -Ian Grieve, "Gordon Bennet", Shropshire Union Canal
It will be interesting if he is prosecuted and he comes up with one of the usual excuses. Either "the infrastructure was confusing" or "the law is a little unclear on this.
If so they should let him off the motoring offence....
....and sack him for not doing his job in the transport/justice department
Ian Austin is to be congratulated on raising this with the government, but it isn't only the clear offence of opening the door, the extremely disturbing attempt to cover it up is even more concerning.
Not giving details, hiding parliamentary passes, not reporting the incident to the police. If Andrew Mitchell can lose his job because he wanted to ride his bike through the main gate outside No 10, then Grayling should be suspended immediately pending an investigation.
Our hackles are up and I completely understand Bluebug's reaction.
I love this site and the way in which that even though we may not always agree, the way that the threads move give us all a greater knowledge and understanding.
I like to think that I have found a home.
Bluebug, you are right and hopefully I did go some way to explaining myself. This is the fourth thread on this, and I guess I'm commenting on all of them as if they were one. Our anger is set high on this one, and our vitriol is up, we should perhaps not be attacking each other, I think that that may be "their" intent.
Cheers Fluffy, I try to write how I think and I might describe it as a ranty stream of consiousness.
Bluebug, I don't think I could ever be described as a friend of Grayling. Please read some of my other comments on this topic on the 3 other threads that feature this deplorable incident. I have called a troll on the thread about Cycling UK, and the above comment is about that, and whose user name kind of says it all.
As Easy.. is not a random blog, it is a very well written series about the advantages and promotion of cycling, and the desperate need for good infratructure. The headline is a strange one, but the article is good, very good. It does not have the community that this site has, but I check it regularly and eagerly read it's very insightful views.
I have linked to it before, and if you ever want a good laugh, please go to it and search for "Audis in Houses". I won't link to it now but I really do heavily advise it.
Apart from the stuff in bold I completely agree with everything you said, but I do think with his level of incompetence, Grayling may very well be promoted.
You are right Mr K. "As Easy as ... " is an excellent source of well written articles centred around the need to improve our cycling infrastructure. That it does so in a calm and measured way is to its credit and makes it much more likely to be taken seriously than the frantic, knee-jerk responses which too often grace this, and other cycling sites.
It is my belief that there has been some urgent fire fighting going on, and an attempt to muddy the waters on this one. I think that there has been some contributions from something, which would fit the definition of a troll, and which may have been several people as there are some changes in style, who are close to Grayling, are part of the department of Justice or Transport, or are tiny cogs in the tory party machine.
I feel better now that I have decided to read, be angered by it but not to feed it.
Have a read of As Easy as RIding a Bike https://aseasyasridingabike.wordpress.com/2016/12/16/the-myth-of-the-bla...
it is almost zenlike in it's calmness
What the hell you on about? Why are you giving publicity to a random blog?
Chris Grayling dislikes cyclists. It's been demonstrated by what he has said to the media. In addition dooring a cyclist and the driver not informing the police just illustrates his contempt even more.
Chris Grayling refuses to deal with the Southern Rail dispute. Again this impacts cyclists as well as everyone who lives in the SE. The more congested the roads are the more air pollution there is.
In short Chris Grayling is a s*** Transport Secretary and if he had an sense of decency would resign.
I think you might be picking an argument with someone you probably don't really disagree with. Even if their prose-style could be better.
This is a public forum not an academic one so if someone writes in a style that isn't easy to read then they will find they are asked what the hell are they on about.
And if someone starts to fly off the handle due to lack of understanding they shouldn't be surprised to find themselves called out on that.
Play nice. This topic + these commenters ≠ a disagreement.
Whilst I do agree with most of what you've just said, I'd disagree with categorising As Easy As... as "just some random blog". It's not there was suddenly a link to a my little pony group or something...
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