Cycling UK offers legal assistance to man who was knocked off bike by the transport secretary as he got out of ministerial car

Cycling groups and MPs have called for Chris Grayling, the transport secretary, to be investigated for knocking over a passing cyclist in Westminster when he opened the door of his ministerial car in traffic.

A cycling organisation has offered the cyclist legal assistance, while MPs on the all-party parliamentary cycling group have called on the prime minister and Metropolitan police to investigate.

Although the transport secretary stopped to apologise and check on the injured man, he left about 90 seconds after the incident, without leaving his details. The cyclist, Jaiqi Liu, was left dazed and injured, with a damaged bike and unaware of the identity of Grayling or the other ministers and aides in the car.



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Cycling UK said “dooring” was a criminal offence and that if police did not prosecute, it was prepared to use its cyclists’ defence fund (CDF) to assist Liu in considering a possible claim against Grayling.

However, Liu has since said he does not wish to discuss the incident further.

Duncan Dollimore, Cycling UK’s senior road safety and legal campaigns officer, said: “Mr Grayling, as a former justice secretary and the current transport secretary, should know it’s a criminal offence to open any door of a vehicle on a road so as to injure or endanger anyone.”



A regulation under section 42 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, which designates criminal motoring offences, states: “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.”



The charity has recently lobbied the government to review this law, believing it is not adequately enforced. Dollimore said: “Currently it’s treated as a minor offence with a maximum £1,000 fine, despite the fact that people have been killed and seriously injured by car dooring.”



In one case where a cyclist was killed, a prosecution was brought for manslaughter, although no conviction was secured. Dollimore said there was a “huge gap between a slap on the wrist and manslaughter”.



He said: “Cycling UK spoke to Justice [Department] officials in September suggesting that a review of the offence and penalties of the car dooring offence is needed. Disappointingly, Grayling’s former department rejected our suggestions and omitted them from their review of offences they announced two weeks ago. Hopefully the Ministry of Justice will now listen to us, and reconsider the entire remit of what is a very limited review.”



Footage obtained by the Guardian shows Grayling knocking the cyclist off his bike on 12 October. The cyclist reported the incident to police without knowing who the minister was. Liu said he was in shock and became aware of the pain later, and was angered by the minister accusing him of cycling too fast and being at fault.



The 35-year-old, a regular cyclist in London who has not had an accident before or since, said he suffered pain to his back, legs and head after the incident, and had to take in his damaged bike for repairs.



Neither Grayling, who was accompanied by a fellow transport minister and an aide, nor the driver stayed to provide details to Liu. Details of the crash emerged after another cyclist who had a camera on his bike later recognised Grayling in a news interview.



Dollimore said: “Cycling UK is keen to speak to Mr Liu to see if our cyclists’ defence fund is able to provide legal assistance. There are questions about why Mr Grayling was not prosecuted for what appears to be an offence, and CDF has in the past been prepared to commence private prosecutions on behalf of injured cyclists.”



A spokesperson for Grayling said it was “an unfortunate accident. Mr Grayling got out of the car, checked the cyclist was OK and waited until he was back on his feet. Mr Grayling spoke to the cyclist and apologised; they shook hands before he left”.

Members of parliament’s all-party cycling group have demanded an investigation into the incident. Chair Ruth Cadbury MP said: “Chris Grayling as much as anyone should understand the risks of opening a car door. If anyone is expected to understand live by the rules of the road, it’s the secretary of state for transport.”

Ian Austin MP, a patron of the group, has written to Theresa May and the chief of the Metropolitan police, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, asking for details of any investigation or sanction. The MP said he believed Grayling had committed at least one offence, including failing to swap details or report an accident.



In his letter, Austin said: “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, [and rail minister Paul] Maynard couldn’t get away quick enough.

“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.”

Shadow transport minister Daniel Zeichner said the crash showed why a change in cycling policy was needed, with a promised cycling and walking investment strategy yet to materialise. He said: “If we want to see cycling safety improve, we need to see sustained investment in infrastructure, and they need to take collisions like this seriously.

“The transport secretary is clearly embarrassed by this incident, but taken with his recent careless comments about cycling, it reveals what he really thinks about cyclists as road users.”