On the first day that saw no crashes at the Tour de France, Austinites were learning how to be better and safer cyclists so they, too, could avoid crashes while riding.

On Wednesday, the Austin Cycling Association provided a defensive cycling class licensed by The Center for Cycling Education. Cooperating with the Austin Municipal Court, the program allows ticket dismissal for violations incurred by bicyclists within the court’s jurisdiction.

The three-hour class was the first of six to be taught this year at BikeTexas.

The defensive cycling class is the first of its kind to be offered in Texas, but not in the country. The Share the Road Safety Class has been in operation in Portland, Ore., since 2007, allowing participants to dismiss traffic tickets obtained while on bicycles.

The course was taught by licensed instructor Allan Dunlap. Dunlap learned most of what is taught in the defensive cycling course from his Traffic Skills 101 course, a two-day class where students spend four hours in the classroom and five hours on the road. The defensive cycling class is spent entirely in a classroom setting, screening short films on cycling safety, with a 10-question quiz at the end.

The class teaches bicycle maintenance and traffic theory. It was developed by Dunlap and Wes Robinson, a director of education for the defensive cycling course. The duo looked at bicycle crash data and statistics to find out which types of crashes were most common, and then figured out the best ways to avoid those crashes for lessons to teach in the class.

In the course, cyclists learn how to communicate their intent to drivers on the road by positioning their bike in a certain part of the lane.

“We teach our riders to be MVPs: maneuverable, visible and predictable,” Robinson said.

According to the League of American Bicyclists, about 750 bicyclists are killed each year in the U.S., and 96 percent of those deaths result from crashes with motor vehicles.

“We try to teach people that they have just as much rights and responsibilities on the road as motorists do,” Robinson said.

The class comes at a cost of $25, and ticketed cyclists can only complete the course once every 12 months. Most of the seven people who attended the class Wednesday were there because they either ran a stop sign or a red light on their bikes.

The cost of the class waives any court costs a ticketed cyclist has, which could total hundreds of dollars, and also relieves any points against your license. The Austin Municipal Court states that a ticket received while on a bicycle counts against your driver’s license.

“It’s great that the court recognizes the benefit of educating cyclists,” Robinson said.

For now, Austin remains the only city in Texas that offers a defensive cycling program. Both Robinson and Dunlap hope the defensive cycling program can expand to other justice of the peace districts in Texas in the near future.