Bird
Rest in Peace
<font color=blue>I got a motorcycle endorsement years ago (as soon as Indiana began requiring them) and was "grandfathered" in with no testing, etc.</font color=blue>
Gary, I wonder how they decided who to "grandfather" and for how long a period of time after the new statute went into effect. When Texas enacted theirs, no provision was made in the statute for grandfathering existing riders, although in many cases, statutes make provisions for the enforcement agency (in this case, the Texas Department of Public Safety) to promulgate rules and procedures. So . . ., the first question to arise was whether or not to "grandfather" police motorcycle officers, and I can assure you most of the Dallas officers, at least, were good on those bikes; they could do things on a motorcycle I wouldn't even think about trying. The DPS in Austin was having a hard time deciding and as far as I know they never grandfathered anyone, because all of the Dallas officers went to the examining station in uniform on duty, on their city owned police bikes, and took the tests./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif And the original "rules" promulgated required an applicant to not only have the motorcycle (which had to pass the State Safety inspection by the examiner) to take the driving test on, but to also provide a car and driver to transport the examining officer while he observed the "on road" portion of the test (so a sergeant went along in a squad car for that purpose). They had an "on road" and "off road" section of driving test (set up traffic cones to weave around on a parking lot for the off road portion). And while I don't know how they do it in other states, the drivers license examiners in Texas are (or least were then) the newest Highway Patrol officers fresh out of the academy and waiting for an opening to move up to the traffic enforcement units. Most of them had never been on a motorcycle in their life./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif Needless to say, no one failed the tests./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif
Personally, I never rode the police bikes, but at the time I was riding a 1968 305 Yamaha back and forth to work because I could park it free very close to the city hall door instead of paying to park a car 3 to 6 blocks away. But even on that little bike, I had added crash bars, windshield, and saddle bags. So I had my wife follow me in her '68 Plymouth Roadrunner to the examining station. The examining station was in a strip mall with a residential area behind the mall. After I took the simple little written test (100% of course), and the examiner checked all the lights and horn on the bike, he said he'd just follow me in his own car, and told me to go out the back side of the mall, make 3 left turns and 3 right turns and come back; didn't even bother to do the "off road" part./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif
Gary, I wonder how they decided who to "grandfather" and for how long a period of time after the new statute went into effect. When Texas enacted theirs, no provision was made in the statute for grandfathering existing riders, although in many cases, statutes make provisions for the enforcement agency (in this case, the Texas Department of Public Safety) to promulgate rules and procedures. So . . ., the first question to arise was whether or not to "grandfather" police motorcycle officers, and I can assure you most of the Dallas officers, at least, were good on those bikes; they could do things on a motorcycle I wouldn't even think about trying. The DPS in Austin was having a hard time deciding and as far as I know they never grandfathered anyone, because all of the Dallas officers went to the examining station in uniform on duty, on their city owned police bikes, and took the tests./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif And the original "rules" promulgated required an applicant to not only have the motorcycle (which had to pass the State Safety inspection by the examiner) to take the driving test on, but to also provide a car and driver to transport the examining officer while he observed the "on road" portion of the test (so a sergeant went along in a squad car for that purpose). They had an "on road" and "off road" section of driving test (set up traffic cones to weave around on a parking lot for the off road portion). And while I don't know how they do it in other states, the drivers license examiners in Texas are (or least were then) the newest Highway Patrol officers fresh out of the academy and waiting for an opening to move up to the traffic enforcement units. Most of them had never been on a motorcycle in their life./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif Needless to say, no one failed the tests./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif
Personally, I never rode the police bikes, but at the time I was riding a 1968 305 Yamaha back and forth to work because I could park it free very close to the city hall door instead of paying to park a car 3 to 6 blocks away. But even on that little bike, I had added crash bars, windshield, and saddle bags. So I had my wife follow me in her '68 Plymouth Roadrunner to the examining station. The examining station was in a strip mall with a residential area behind the mall. After I took the simple little written test (100% of course), and the examiner checked all the lights and horn on the bike, he said he'd just follow me in his own car, and told me to go out the back side of the mall, make 3 left turns and 3 right turns and come back; didn't even bother to do the "off road" part./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif
