A debate on GB News got very heated as they argued over MP's plans to crackdown on dangerous cyclists.
On Wednesday night, MPs voted in favour of an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill that would create three new offences: causing death by dangerous cycling; causing serious injury by dangerous cycling and causing death by careless or inconsiderate cycling.
Speaking about this on GB News, Dave Sherry, described as "Britain's most hated cyclist", has hit out at the law change and claimed that cyclists should not be held responsible because, "we're not considered a motorised vehicle under the Road Traffic Act".
However, motoring journalist Danny Kelly argued that some cyclists are "awful" and should be held accountable for their actions.
The debate on GB News got heated
GB News
Sherry explained: "We don't emit an emission, don't require low tax or insurance. We're not considered a motorised vehicle under the Road Traffic Act, so that's a good start. You look at the facts and figures, vehicles kill more than cyclists."
Kelly retorted: "I think Dave's argument is a weak one, in the sense that just because you don't produce any emissions, you shouldn't be held accountable. What we're talking about is a tiny minority. The vast majority of cyclists are considerate people.
They'll maybe sound their bell when they're cycling behind someone on a towpath or a cyclepath. We're talking about a tiny minority, Dave, who will just not give anybody an advance warning.
"The first you know about it as a pedestrian is a blast of air as they go past you. Sometimes they've even in excess of 20 miles an hour if they're on one of these, battery-powered bikes. So I think we're talking about a tiny minority."
GB News host Tom Harwood later said: "If we're trying to regulate bicycles in the same way that we regulate cars, you're going to have to set up a new parallel DVLA.
"You're going to have to have little license plates on bicycles. You're going to create a huge statist infrastructure for people that just peddle about. Is there a risk that you're going to get huge Government overreach here?"
Amendments to the Criminal Justice Act would impose harsher punishments on cyclistsPAHe responded by saying that he "wouldn't mind" putting number plates on a bike. He said: " You could do it with a smartphone. You can maybe capture it with some sort of code and then you can upload it. It's not some sort of bureaucratic nightmare that we need to get a number plate for."
Tom asked: "My eight-year-old, who's cycling on a little stabilised bicycle, do they need to register with the Government?"
He answered: "No, you are being ridiculous. We're not talking about eight-year-olds killing people. We're talking about grown men and women killing people."
He added: "You're being disingenuous. We're talking about people flying at 15, 16 miles per hour.
There will be tougher punishments for cyclists
GB News
"In fact, there was a 28-mile-an-hour guy who killed a woman and the police couldn't prosecute it because the speed restrictions didn't apply to cyclists.
"That's what we're talking about. We're not talking about eight-year-olds."
The new rules could see dangerous cyclists who kill or seriously injure other people face maximum prison sentences as long as 14 years.
