4moreyears
01-10-2006, 09:16 PM
Link (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10794604/)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle illegally over the weekend when he collided with a car in his Brentwood neighborhood, the Los Angeles Police Department said Tuesday.
Police Lt. Paul Vernon said Schwarzenegger does not have the proper motorcycle endorsement on his California driver's license, contradicting statements made by his spokeswoman since the Sunday accident that left the governor with 15 stitches in his upper lip.
"He does not have the license," Vernon said.
Police did not cite the governor because they arrived after the accident, Vernon said. Police referred their findings to the Los Angeles city attorney's office, which will determine whether the governor should be cited for an infraction.
The city attorney's office could not immediately confirm receipt of the department's report.
Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Margita Thompson, acting on initial information Sunday, said the governor's Class C license allowed him to ride the motorcycle with its sidecar attached. 12-year-old son, Patrick, was riding in a sidecar and was treated for cuts and bruises.
Schwarzenegger, who rides regularly along the California coast, said Tuesday that he never bothered to obtain a motorcycle license because he “never thought about it.”
“I just never really applied for it,” he told reporters during a state budget briefing. “It was just one of those things that I never really did.”
Thompson said the governor’s driver’s license allowed him to drive a motorcycle with a sidecar. But she conceded he probably took years of illegal motorcycle rides because he lacked an endorsement on his license that would permit him to drive a motorcycle without a sidecar.
To get such an endorsement, a motorcycle rider must pass a skills test given by the state Department of Motor Vehicles or take a motorcycle training course from a program approved by the California Highway Patrol.
Driving a motorcycle without the proper license is an infraction that can result in fines ranging from $100 to $250 or more.
Schwarzenegger said he had a motorcycle license when he lived in Europe but never thought about getting another one after he arrived in the United States in 1968.
“He acknowledges he needs to get it,” Thompson said.
California Highway Patrol officers accompanied Schwarzenegger on Sunday’s ride, but police spokesman Steve Kohler declined to discuss if officers had checked, or would check in the future, whether the governor had a proper license. Kohler said he could not disclose such information because it involved Schwarzenegger’s protective detail.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle illegally over the weekend when he collided with a car in his Brentwood neighborhood, the Los Angeles Police Department said Tuesday.
Police Lt. Paul Vernon said Schwarzenegger does not have the proper motorcycle endorsement on his California driver's license, contradicting statements made by his spokeswoman since the Sunday accident that left the governor with 15 stitches in his upper lip.
"He does not have the license," Vernon said.
Police did not cite the governor because they arrived after the accident, Vernon said. Police referred their findings to the Los Angeles city attorney's office, which will determine whether the governor should be cited for an infraction.
The city attorney's office could not immediately confirm receipt of the department's report.
Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Margita Thompson, acting on initial information Sunday, said the governor's Class C license allowed him to ride the motorcycle with its sidecar attached. 12-year-old son, Patrick, was riding in a sidecar and was treated for cuts and bruises.
Schwarzenegger, who rides regularly along the California coast, said Tuesday that he never bothered to obtain a motorcycle license because he “never thought about it.”
“I just never really applied for it,” he told reporters during a state budget briefing. “It was just one of those things that I never really did.”
Thompson said the governor’s driver’s license allowed him to drive a motorcycle with a sidecar. But she conceded he probably took years of illegal motorcycle rides because he lacked an endorsement on his license that would permit him to drive a motorcycle without a sidecar.
To get such an endorsement, a motorcycle rider must pass a skills test given by the state Department of Motor Vehicles or take a motorcycle training course from a program approved by the California Highway Patrol.
Driving a motorcycle without the proper license is an infraction that can result in fines ranging from $100 to $250 or more.
Schwarzenegger said he had a motorcycle license when he lived in Europe but never thought about getting another one after he arrived in the United States in 1968.
“He acknowledges he needs to get it,” Thompson said.
California Highway Patrol officers accompanied Schwarzenegger on Sunday’s ride, but police spokesman Steve Kohler declined to discuss if officers had checked, or would check in the future, whether the governor had a proper license. Kohler said he could not disclose such information because it involved Schwarzenegger’s protective detail.