A bill that was created in memory of a
young man who died in a motorcycle crash could make the sport safer
in Connecticut.
The legislation will require any
applicant for a motorcycle driver’s licence to pass a rider training
course. That would include anyone going for a first licence as well
as riders who have let their motorcycle licence expire for more than
two years.
In Connecticut, licence applicants
under 18 years old are currently required to complete a training
course.
The bill passed through the Senate
without a single objection and now goes to the House of
Representatives.
Stephanie Pelletier of East Hartford is
behind the bill; her 19-year-old son died in a motorcycle collision
two years ago.
Here is a portion of Pelletier’s speech to the House Democrats of Connecticut:
"The night before Nick’s accident, he went to his grandmother’s house to help her with a project and have dinner and he was home early. The following morning was a beautiful sunny day. On his way to
work, Nick stopped at the bank and then was heading to his friend’s house so they could
ride to work together. A few miles from where he was going is where his life ended.
Nick collided with a minivan and he was instantly killed. Nick was wearing his helmet
and what should have been a beautiful ride to work, turned out to be a heartbreaking one. …
"Currently the State of Connecticut has a motorcycle training course known as the Connecticut
Rider Education Program. However, this program is only mandated for 16- and 17-year-olds. What this means is anybody over the age of 17 can obtain a motorcycle permit
without any formal training. I ask you to please consider the amendment before you,
which would mandate that every driver seeking a motorcycle license be required to
complete the Connecticut Rider Education Program."
Making people pass a course isn’t going to make people want to learn. If people WANT to be there, they are going to pay more attention and learn more than if they’re told to attend. Remember the morons in highschool that disrupted things because they didn’t want to be there?
“You can’t legislate common sense.”
For those who have none, they just did.
You can’t legislate common sense.
Every new motorcyclist should take a rider training course, but mandating it by law is crazy.
Let Darwin rule.
It should not cost government anything more than it does now. Somebody wants to ride a bike, they should a safety course and pay for it, like many of us did. No need to make all tax payers pay for a pleasure of few.
As a Certified Instructor with Nfld’s “Gearing Up” Motorcycle Training Program, I have seen first hand the benefits of formal training for new Riders and am solidly in favor of mandatory Rider Training for ALL of Canada … but I can see Provincial Govts not being in favor of legislating mandatory training as it would mean subsidization of the costs involved …
Manitoba already has a set-up just like this…anyone who wants a motorcycle license has to pass a government-approved safety course. I went through this myself, and would highly recommend it to anybody.
My friends went to Michigan to do a rider’s training course to get the insurance discount. I obviously can’t speak to all rider’s training courses, but the one they did was a complete joke compared to the Humber/RTI courses we have. Super cheap, and everyone was there for the piece of paper to give a discount….
I think rider training courses are essential, I just hope they’re high quality.