A tweet from the Conservative party has angered cyclists after it said that new laws would protest “our most vulnerable road users” from bike users. It has since been deleted after a backlash online and cycling minister Jesse Norman apologised after the uproar is caused.
The message on the Conservative Twitter feed said: “We’re launching a consultation into dangerous cycling so that our most vulnerable road users are protected.”
Champion cyclist Chris Boardman responded: “That says it all really. Wow, just wow. I genuinely thought this was a bad joke, had to check it was a real account.”
He wrote on Twitter the focus was “on a single tragic case”, when around “66 pedestrians are killed each year, on the pavement alone, by drivers, who are prosecuted for careless driving.”
I genuinely thought this was a bad joke, had to check it was a real account. @Jesse_Norman https://t.co/m4QO8229Vn
— Chris Boardman (@Chris_Boardman) August 12, 2018
But Duncan Dollimore, head of campaigns for lobby group Cycling UK, said: “If the Government is serious about addressing behaviour that puts others at risk on our roads, they should grasp the opportunity to do the job properly, rather than attempt to patch up an area of legislation that’s simply not working.”
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