Footage has emerged of transport secretary Chris Grayling knocking a cyclist off his bike as he opened a car door into his path.
Grayling sent Jaiqi Liu crashing onto the pavement when he opened his car door on Monday December 12. Liu’s bike was sent flying into the air, before it hit a lamppost.
Thankfully, the rider – who appears to be wearing a ProViz reflective jacket – was left with bruises only. The wheel, brakes and mudguards of his bike were damaged and his lights were lost.
The footage was taken by Laurence de Hoest, who was riding not far behind the soon-to-be unseated Liu as both riders filtered past stationary traffic outside the Palace of Westminster.
The camera cyclist sent the video to the Guardian after he recognised Grayling from photos in an interview he gave with Cycling Weekly. In the interview, Grayling commented that there were some places in London where cycle lanes “cause too much of a problem for road users.”
Liu, who is 35-years-old and works for the World Bank says he notified police before he knew the identity of the man who knocked him from his bike. He commented: “I think it’s important to report all these incidents to the police so they are recorded, and they can make the roads safer.”
Grayling did stop immediately and put his hand on Liu’s sholder. The footage shows Liu get to his feet, and the two do shake hands and part seemingly amicably. However, Grayling didn’t leave his name or contact details according to reports.
The Guardian report that the shaken cyclist said later: “One thing he did say was that I was cycling too fast, which was not true. That made me really upset. He made out it was my fault.”
He added: “It’s my first and only accident and it came out of the blue. Definitely he should stay a bit longer to check on me. But maybe he had something more important than this to rush to.”
With Grayling at the time was fellow transport minister Paul Maynard. He left the scene. Former Conservative parliamentary candidate Simon Jones remained though he did put his identity badge in his jacket pocket.
