The Conservative MP for South Northamptonshire, Andrea Leadsom, has unleashed a furious debate within the cycling community with her Private Member’s Bill in Parliament calling for a new traffic safety offence of causing death by dangerous cycling.

The issue stems from an incident in Buckingham in 2007. Rhiannon Bennett, 17, was walking along a pavement when a cyclist approached at speed yelling: “Move, because I’m not stopping!”

He crashed into Rhiannon, who hit her head on the kerb. She died six days later. The cyclist was found guilty of dangerous cycling, which carries a maximum penalty of £2,500, but no prison sentence, so he got off virtually scot-free. I was appalled. He should clearly have done time and plenty of it.

So do I support Andrea Leadsom’s Bill?

Hmm. While I’m not madly against it, I’m afraid it’s a waste of time. Would the man who killed Rhiannon Bennett have decided not to mow her down had the law existed? Of course not. An existing law already covers this. The Offences Against the Person Act 1861 is used on those incredibly rare occasions when a cyclist kills a pedestrian. I don’t know why it wasn’t used with Rhiannon’s killer.

My issue with Andrea Leadsom’s bill is it’s shifting the focus away from the real problem on the road: killer motor vehicles.

Bikes are light and very rarely kill. Cars and trucks are heavy and do kill. If I knocked you getting my bike out of a rack in the city centre I might bruise your leg. If I knocked you over backing my car out of a parking space in the city centre, I might break your leg. The kinetic energy of a bus or a truck means they would do more damage still.

Figures for 2009, the most recent year for which stats are available, show that motor vehicles killed 426 pedestrians. Cyclists killed no (zero) pedestrians in 2009, but per mile cyclists fare worse than any other group on the road.

In 2009, 104 cyclists were killed by motor vehicles. That’s better than in the 1990s, when an average of 186 cyclists died every year on Britain’s roads, but there is still much room for improvement.

In many cases where death is caused by careless driving, the driver – perhaps drunk or uninsured – just cruises away: a hit and run.

If Ms Leadsom really wants to make a difference, she would do well to look at the bigger picture. She could look at HGVs, for a start.

About 25 per cent of cyclist deaths every year are caused by HGVs. All the recent deaths of which I am aware in Oxfordshire were caused by large lorries or Buses.

Vehicles, the bigger the worse it seems, claim way too many lives.

The haulage industry has done a lot in recent years to better educate drivers about the dangers their vehicles pose to vulnerable road users.

New mirror systems mean fewer blindspots than before, but still large vehicles claim lives, especially when turning left.

If Ms Leadsom is in the mood for legislation, she would do well to propose adoption of a law that the Dutch reckon makes their roads much safer.

In Holland, the presumption of guilt falls on the larger party in any collision.

Buses and trucks are at the bottom of the pile, followed by cars, motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians, in that order.

All drivers know they will be held responsible for any collision with a smaller, more vulnerable vehicle/person. This greatly increases drivers’ care and cyclists’ longevity.