IT WASN’T your average walk to the station after work. The cars and buses came to a standstill, my pedestrian light turned green, so I stepped off the kerb — only to be forced to leap back as a blurred Lycra-clad figure zapped past, just missing me and another woman, who fell. I yelled at him to stop, but he turned around and gave me the finger as he sped away.

Five minutes earlier, I’d been fined $67 for jaywalking at another — empty — intersection. What I’d done wasn’t in any way dangerous but I was an easy target for the traffic cop, while the two-wheeled hoon was untouchable, and he knew it.

Others haven’t been as lucky as I was. This week, it was revealed that Peter Williams has been forced to apply for a court order to identify the cyclist who allegedly crashed into him, leaving him with brain and other injuries, as he strolled with his partner in a park in Melbourne’s inner north.

This is an extreme case, of course: riders are far more likely to fall victim to cars and trucks than to injure pedestrians. Each tragedy is followed by calls for driver education, with regular awareness campaigns and penalties introduced — but cyclists also need survival and safety training. I learned to ride a motorbike decades ago, and was taught not to expect that larger vehicles would pay attention to me, but to ride as though every driver was out to kill me. Result: I’m still here.

The cyclist who almost hit me knew he was wrong to run a red light, but many riders are ill-informed on safety. Before any of us can legally drive a car or ride a motorbike, we must take lessons and pass a stringent test. But what happens when we want to ride a pedal-bike for the first time?

Mum or dad make sure our training wheels are fixed properly and off we go, yelling “Wheeeeee! Look at me!” For we never make the official transition from child to adult rider. From that unforgettable day when the training wheels come off, the bikes just get bigger and faster.

Registration of bikes is regularly debated, but it wouldn’t catch enough culprits to justify the cost. In any case, cycling is intrinsically healthy and nobody wants to be seen to discourage it. Compulsory education and a licensing system is the best route to go.

The only body to provide nationally standardised training, AustCycle, is a network of franchisee providers who employ accredited teachers. AustCycle’s impact evaluation of its 2010-13 adult training programs hailed its success and called for a funded national adult framework and standards. This is yet to happen.

AustCycle’s general manager, Gareth Watkins, says: “Bike riding is a fundamental life skill, like swimming. It has so many benefits, and it’s crucial that riders have adequate knowledge and skills to ride confidently and safely. But there is no national coordination of safety programs — it’s very disappointing.”

Charlene Bordley, of AustCycle provider Addventageous in western Sydney, quotes $150 per hour to train a group of 20 year 10 students, for which they get two coaches on school premises and out in the community. Public funding of these programs would surely be offset by long-term savings in primary healthcare (particularly in obesity treatment) and emergency medical costs. Learning to ride safely in the grown-up world could, and should, be a compulsory part of the school-leaving exam, culminating in the award of a lifelong rider’s licence.

Until then, cyclists will keep on becoming accident statistics, while others continue to deserve the “Lycra lout” label as they whiz through red lights or down the footpath, their inner four-year-old still yelling: “Wheeeeee! Look at me!”