Ride CT & Ride New England Serving New England, NYC and The Hudson Valley!
Time flies. It has been nearly 15 years since Connecticut mandated that all prospective riders successfully complete a motorcycle safety course to get an “M” endorsement on a driver license, yet I feel safe in suggesting that there are still many riders out on the roads who have never taken and passed a Basic Rider Course and are riding illegally.
These riders who ignore the law are endangering themselves as well as everyone else on the highways. Why is this allowed to continue?
There are others who are skirting the training requirement by obtaining and renewing learner’s permits, providing the state with cash but failing to become competent when operating a motorcycle.
As a longtime Connecticut Rider Education instructor, I’m always engaged when riding and always observant of the riding techniques of others, both good and bad.
A few years ago while riding through Woodbury, CT, I ended up behind another rider. It didn’t take very long to observe something wonky with his cornering technique. He’d lean his body excessively into turns, keeping the motorcycle mostly upright.
My first thought was that the rider was goofing around, but I soon suspected that this was normal for him; that he’d never learned correct cornering technique. There is a strong chance this rider was self-taught, was riding on a motorcycle learner’s permit or was unlicensed.
Motorcycle safety studies have shown that 33 percent of single vehicle motorcycle crashes happen in curves. This is why there is a strong focus on cornering skills in motorcycle training courses. Other potential lifesaving skills like swerving and maximum braking are also taught and practiced. Besides physical skills, attention is given to mental skills to help improve perception and seeing what is important.
It was way back in 2011 that state law changed to require anyone wishing to obtain a new motorcycle operator’s license to successfully complete a state-sponsored motorcycle training course. The law was inspired by East Hartford resident Stephanie Pelletier, whose 19-year old son Nicholas died in a 2008 motorcycle crash. Before this law, only riders under 18 were required to complete the safety course.
Like a large percentage of motorcycle riders, Nicholas was self-taught. Pelletier believed that if her son had taken a formal training course, he could have prevented the fatal collision. It became her cause and the passage of law was a good first step, but, in my opinion, it did not go far enough.
Connecticut and the Department of Motor Vehicles still make it too easy for the riders to be out on the roads without having taken a motorcycle safety training course and to be unlicensed.
This often due to the loophole in the form of a learner’s permit. All you need to do is take a multiple guess knowledge test, complete a vision test and pay $56 in fees at a DMV office. No training or supervision is required to operate a motorcycle on a learner’s permit.
If the learner’s permit expires, for an additional fee it can be extended for 60 more days – once during a calendar year. This learner’s permit cycle can continue indefinitely – year after year.
DMV issues learner permits and collects fees but never puts a deadline on a rider getting trained or actually getting an M endorsement on their license. DMV and/or state lawmakers need to eliminate this loophole. Or is the permit fee revenue too lucrative to pass up?
(Photos by Steve Smith.)
