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Riders Race To Escape Sitting In Safety Class

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By KEITH MORELLI

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 1, 2008

TAMPA - Starting today, you need to take a class to get a motorcycle license in Florida.

That means that for the past few days, people have been pouring into state motor vehicle offices hoping to beat the new law.

It hasn't been pretty.

At the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles office on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Lois Avenue, road tests usually number 10 or 15 a day. They have risen four-fold or more recently.

"Friday we did 75," Ana Nieves, who manages the office, said Monday. "Saturday between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m., we did 62. Today Monday we expect 60 to 70."

Friday, most candidates for a license called an endorsement were inexperienced. Many weren't ready. More than one dumped the bike during the short skills test on the asphalt lot behind the office.

Preston Quiles, 27, of Tampa waited in line on his new Suzuki GSX 600, watching others motor through the course. He had passed the written part of the test and has been riding on an extended permit, he said.

"I'm trying to get my endorsement," Quiles said. "I just found out that starting tomorrow, I'll have to take a $200 course."

During the test, he put his foot down during a swerving exercise and didn't pass. He was later allowed a retake.

Normally, those who flunk are told to go out, practice and come back in a week or two. But Monday they were allowed to take the test twice.

As Nieves watched, a young rider dumped a scooter. He had borrowed the vehicle from another rider.

Professional instruction in the art of motorcycle riding can benefit novice riders, Nieves said.

Classes cover how to swerve to avoid a pothole, when to steer clear of the center of a lane, and where fluids from car engines tend to drip and make the pavement slick.

All that may be unknown to those who hopped on a motorcycle to take the state test Monday, she said.

A Step Toward Safer Roads

That's the theory behind the new state law, designed to reduce the number of motorcycle accidents. In Florida, where the climate is conducive to year-round riding, the number of accidents approached 9,000 in 2006.

Passing the class means riders don't have to take the state test. Just present the class certificate to the driver's license bureau and an endorsement will be added to a driver's license.

The state has lists of schools that offer certified classes for each county, and in Hillsborough County there are six. Most schools supply the motorcycles.

In 2006, the most recent year for which statistics are available, 521 motorcyclists were killed in 8,990 wrecks on Florida highways. Nearly 8,000 motorcyclists were injured, statistics show.

Florida Highway Patrol Capt. Mark Welch said his agency supports the new law.

"There's a difference in the riders who take the course and those who just hop on and pass the state test," he said.

School Owner Riding High

Dan Derringer, owner of the Motorcycle Rider Association, which has offered motorcycle safety classes for six years in the Bay area, said demand for the classes has grown in recent years, mainly because of rising gasoline prices.

"We have historically taught between 40 and 50 people a week and most of the time we're full," he said.

"We have added two to three sessions each week, and so now, we're teaching about 60 a week."

The change in the law will mean even more demand, he said.

"I could teach more classes if I had more ranges and more instructors," he said, which he is considering. People are on a monthlong waiting list now.

"We're busier now than we've ever been," he said.

"I think the Legislature did a good thing when it passed this law," Derringer said. "It probably will save lives in the long run.

"It's like the helmet law. It's difficult for some people to conform to right away. But it saves lives."

LEARNING TO RIDE

To find a course in your area, go to motorcycles.hsmv.state.fl.us or call (850) 488-3286.

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or kmorelli@tampatrib.com.

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