Former West Australian (WA) transport minister Simon O’Brien said that cyclists in Perth should compulsorily undergo training before being allowed on the roads as they do not follow road rules properly.

He said that the cyclists are ‘useless’ and many of them are not aware of the basic road rules, or did follow them.

According to O’Brien, if cyclists go on the road without undergoing any training or qualifications, this poses a risk to themselves and other road users.

"It makes a lot of sense to teach children the way to ride bikes safely."

The comments were made by O’Brien during a recent parliamentary exchange, where he said that people already recognised that West Australians were useless drivers, but it also applied to cyclists.

Bicycling WA chief executive Jeremey Murray who said that O’Brien’s comments were ill-informed and further admitted that there were various cyclists who do the wrong thing on the roads.

An Office of Road Safety analysis found that last year, eight cyclists were killed and 18 were critically injured on WA roads.

In four of six fatalities that occurred in crashes with other vehicles, the review found that the cyclist was at fault, inattentive and failed to give way.

A former transport minister for the first Barnett Cabinet from 2008 to 2010, O’Brien said that it makes a lot of sense to teach children the way to ride bikes safely.

A roundtable meeting convened by premier Colin Barnett and key cycling representatives in March initiated a new schools programme, which was aimed at teaching about bicycles and road rules, the West Australian said.