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Motorcycle instruction course is given the green light
New law requires vendors to provide helmets to riders
Gov. Eloy S. Inos has signed a law to require motorcycle vendors to provide helmets to riders of rented vehicles in the Commonwealth, and to allow the Department of Public Safety to offer motorcycle instruction courses.
House Bill 19-14, HD1—now Public Law 19-12—requires that vendors provide U.S. Department of Transportation-certified helmets to operators renting or who have leased motorcycles, scooters, or mopeds in the CNMI.
The new law also allows the Department of Public Safety to establish a CNMI motorcycle safety education program that will include training courses for novice and experienced riders. The program will also issue a certificate of completion to persons who meet the program requirements that must meet or exceed those established by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
No person will drive or operate a motorcycle on a public street or highway in the CNMI without first securing a regular operator’s license with “motorcycle endorsement” on it, the bill states.
Before a motorcycle endorsement can be issued, a person who is 16 years or older must attend, enroll, and pass the Motorcycle Safety Education Program, according to the bill.
“Tourists have been injured or even killed as result of motorcycle accidents in the Commonwealth,” the bill states. “There are currently no motorcycle safety courses offered in the Commonwealth.”
“As a result, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles of [DPS] does not provide for endorsements in driver’s licenses issued to motorcycle operators. When traveling abroad, they are often not allowed to operate a motorcycle because of the absence of a motorcycle endorsement on the [CNMI driver’s license].”
“The Department of Public Safety can and have certified instructors to conduct such courses but lack the legal authority to require motorcycle operators to undergo such classes prior to receiving a motorcycle endorsement on their driver’s licenses. The Legislature finds that the Commonwealth has been unable to access federal grant funds from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in large part because of the absence of a law that requires motorcycle operators to undergo a motorcycle operator’s safety course.”
Rep. Roman C. Benavente introduced the bill with Reps. Lorenzo Guerrero, Edwin Propst, and Ramon Tebuteb.
