You would think that with all the REAL crimes in southern Kalifornia, Governor Schwarzenegger's motorcycle riding would be pretty far down the list. What about all the drug dealers, the meth labs, the gang violence, the ILLEGAL ALIEN problem?? Nope, not important enough. The fact that the Governor doesn't have a motorcycle endorsement is the real problem and needs to be dealt with as severely as possible.

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Full Story

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was riding his motorcycle illegally over the weekend when he collided with a car in his Los Angeles neighborhood, police said Tuesday.

Los Angles Police Lt. Paul Vernon said Schwarzenegger does not have the proper endorsement on his California driver's license to operate a motorcycle.

Vernon said police did not ticket the governor for a violation because they arrived after the accident, which caused Schwarzenegger to suffer a cut on his upper lip that required 15 stitches.

Instead, officers referred their findings to the Los Angeles city attorney's office, which will determine whether the governor should be cited for an infraction. Driving a motorcycle without the proper license can result in fines ranging from $100 to $250 or more.

The city attorney's office could not immediately confirm receiving the police department's report.

Earlier Tuesday, Schwarzenegger acknowledged 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."

Schwarzenegger, a Harley Davidson owner who rides regularly along the California coast, 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.

Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Margita Thompson, acting on initial information Sunday, said the governor's Class C driver's license allowed him to ride the motorcycle with its sidecar attached. His 12- year-old son, Patrick, who was riding in a sidecar, was unhurt.

But Thompson conceded the governor 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.

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.

So Arnold pays the fines.


No big deal.    He's rich.


Hold him to the same standard.

Heard this morning they decided not to cite him!

and yet a similar violation and excuse ("i just didn't think about it...") involving firearms would land the average californian in jail forever.

Pay the fine. Get his mototcycle liscense. Big deal.

wasnt it on of our presidents that got pulled over for speeding, and the cop was going to let hime off, since he was the president, but the pres forced him to give him the ticket?

I want to say grover clevland, and i dont know why.

He did not break the law this time as he was "driving" a motorcycle with a side-car. CAL-DMV does not classify that as a "motorcycle" because it has more than two wheels.

According to the California Highway Patrol he was not in violation because the motorcycle license law of California applies to two wheeled motorcycles.  He had a side car attached so his class C license was valid.  I don't like citing victims in car crashes anyway.  People are not mentioning the Governor was riding down the street when someone backed out of a driveway into his path.  That person should be cited, and I hope they were.  They were at fault in the accident.

So his motorcycle scenes in T2 was evidence showing he was riding w/o a sidecar w/o a valid motorcycle license.

Quoted: So Arnold pays the fines. No big deal.    He's rich. Hold him to the same standard.

Actually if he was smart about it, he should publicly insist they cite him and set an example for many others who may have a certain sense of entitlement.

I remember hearing a story once about how a newly elected mayor could easily deal with those who came to him demanding some sort of legal exceptions or consideration from having to pay parking tickets, etc. The solution was to park his personal car in a somewhat prominent no parking area, receive a ticket for it, pay the ticket, and then keep the ticket and receipt for payment at his desk.

When someone else came in to complain about their own tickets, he simply pointed to his and suggested they try to resolve their ticket the same way he resolved his.

Quoted: So his motorcycle scenes in T2 was evidence showing he was riding w/o a sidecar w/o a valid motorcycle license.

It was a movie set.

Even if he didn't have a valid cycle license while filming that scene, he was no more breaking the law on that motorcycle than he was by waving around that sawed off shotgun.