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news
Danny Care picture source RFU.jpegCareless Tweeter: England rugby star Danny Care announces "I hate cyclists" on Twitter
Ah, the poor, beleaguered England Rugby World Cup team. Off the pitch, they’re in the news for bothering female hotel employees or telling fibs about the full extent of extra-marital snogs on nights out; on it, they’re slammed for a brand of rugby described as “ruthless, pitiless” and “joyless.” Injury may have kept scrum-half Danny Care off the plane to New Zealand, but he seems determined to add to the team’s, erm… charm offensive after taking aim at cyclists on Twitter.
Yesterday, the Leeds-born 24-year-old tweeted, “I hate Cyclists!!!!!” with the hashtag, #getacar. There was no elaboration about just what it was about cyclists that irked the rugby player, and the tweet was swiftly deleted as replies started coming in.
Twitter being Twitter, news of his comments, as ill-informed as they were ill-judged, with research showing that cyclists are more likely to own a car than the average person, quickly spread.
One bike rider who learned of Care’s comments tweeted back, “All cyclists? That's a bit of an ignorant comment, no?” adding the rather lengthy but self-explanatory hashtag #ihavegotmanycarsthankstoridingmybike. That cyclist’s name? Mark Cavendish.
A tweet by track coach Lee Povey opining that Care would be getting a “lot of stick for THAT comment” was picked up by former England rugby captain Will Carling, who said, “he is still a youngster,” and jokingly promised, “I will give him a slap & he will be the better for it .”
Carling, a keen cyclist who has ridden London to Paris, spent his entire club career at Harlequins, where Care now plays. Another former England captain and team mate of Carling’s, Lawrence Dallaglio, has undertaken a series of challenging bike rides to raise money for charity.
There is of course a highly serious side to the issue of drivers, however light-heartedly they may claim their comments were made, suggesting that cyclists should not be on the road.
It’s one that was highlighted by Twitter user Condorbee, who told Care: “Our friends are killed on the roads everyday and drivers "playfully" use their cars against us, why shouldn't we be passionate?”
Care did issue an apology on Twitter yesterday evening, saying “My last comment wasn't meant to offend anyone. I didn't realise cyclists were so passionate. I'm sorry. #cyclesafe.”
We can’t help feeling, however, that he’s still missing the point about why cyclists took issue with his comment in the first place.
Might we suggest to Messrs Carling and Dallaglio, should they be reading, that requiring Care to accompany them on their next long-distance bike ride would be a suitable sanction, and one that would help him see the world from a cyclist’s perspective?
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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25 comments
What a tw@
Quite happy to read comments about this particular rugby player Mr_eL_Bee; it was a stupid thing to say. Just not comments about rugby players in general.
"I didn't realise cyclists were so passionate"
Well yeahhh.. like Rugby or football fans maybe? )
Just to sum up...a rugby player has slagged off cyclists in general, using the internet, because, presumably, he has been annoyed by some cyclist. Many bloggers have taken the opportunity to slag off rugby players in general, because, they have been annoyed by some rugby player....What is the difference? Many high profile rugby players are also cyclists, as has been pointed out. Lets keep this blog reasonable.
The difference is that whereas 'hating' some rugby player has little or no consequence, hating a cyclists (or cyclists in general) while driving a vehicle can have fatal consequences, and someone in the public domain should exercise a little more common sense. Because if it's "OK for Danny Care to do it..." there is little hope of these Neanderthal attitudes ever changing!
Pete with two cars - you don't pay more road tax than anyone else, because you don't pay road tax. No-one does, and no-one has done since Winston Churchill abolished it in the 30s, precisely because he could see that it would engender a sense of entitlement in motorists that they owned the roads and shoudl have exclusive use of them.
As for rugby internationals, there amply-demonstrated oafishness and boorishness should make us glad that they choose to identify with motorists rather than with cyclists!
And Winston Churchill got it dead right
http://ipayroadtax.com/?p=54
There are ignorant, selfish bastards in all walks of life, but when they pilot a 2 tonne steel box that can snuff out your life in a moment it's a very serious issue.
This is why he's a rugby player, nothing between the ears ... idiot
He sounds like a feminine hygiene product.
ha ha ha ha
That's funny cos i don't really care for Danny Care
Hate is a strong word..... Deep down he probably does hate cyclists so saying sorry is not good enough. I hope a cycling loving 125 kilo prop cuts him in half when he returns to play....
The poor lambs not very well and he's angry about missing the 'fun'with the gang in NZ. No wonder he's got all that hate in him. Probably feels a bit of a spare part right now.
A very stupid comment, which he righly got stick for.
However, sadly it is the kind of attitude so many drivers have.
As he plays for Harlequins, I imagine he lives near Richmond. Richmond has a lot of cyclists about particually at the weekend.
I t was also very congested yesterday as lot of people had headed to the Park or Kew Gardens to enjoy the weather (and the trains weren't working).
And I thought rugby was the thinking man's game. Well, despite Mr Care's carelessness it still is compared to football or tiddlywinks.
I'd really like to know what incident prompted his ignorant comment. I'd be willing to bet that it was a minor delay to his 'oh-so-hectic-and-self-important' schedule that caused him to malign other *road-sharing* cyclists.
BTW I own two cars and pay vehicle excise duty (not road tax) and go to work by car and bike. I pay my way.
#getacar more like #getabraincell
There was an 8hr and 12hr "challenge race" only a couple of weekends ago which featured many rugby players, including Victor Ubogu (as mentioned above).
Danny's original tweet also drew comments from Bradley Wiggins and Rob Hayles along with various cycling publications.
Whilst we can lambast this bloke, and he can apologise to get everyone off his case, and we all just end up thinking "guy's a brainless tosser", it nevertheless highlights a serious point about many drivers thinking cyclists should not be on the road at all. I seem to remember celebrity chef James Martin said something similar a while ago.
I wouldn't mind but I own 2 cars at the moment, neither of which do many miles, but I probably pay more in road tax than they do.
With one short, stupid tweet Danny has shown himself to be a complete and utter twat.
This is why it upsets people who cycle, the selfishness and implied threat.
Please France could you beat England by a huge margin, please, please ?
Nah! I'm going to let him off... my guess is that he's probably been on a ride and realized that being 15 odd stone only makes you good at shit sports!
+1
I suppose at least DC has given another reason to keep the spirit of the the Auld Alliance alive
Nice to know that Carling and Dallaglio will have a bit of a word with him and make him understand why he is an utter dunce.
Victor Ubogu has been seen out on a bike recently too.
Pretty dumb of him to use the word 'hate' and then say it 'wasn't meant to offend'.
Hang on, I take that back. It was extremely dumb.