PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) 1997 manual, Motorcycle Operator Licensing System—Guidelines for Motor Vehicle Administrators, reported that, nationally, approximately 20 percent of motorcyclists are not licensed or are improperly licensed, and more than 40 percent of the motorcycle operators involved in fatal crashes were not licensed. In Minnesota from 1985 to 1995, roughly 35 percent of motorcycle operators involved in fatal crashes were not licensed or were unendorsed (a skills certification). Several factors acted as disincentives to obtaining or completing the endorsement process:

• Motorcycle permits cost $2.50 and are renewable for $1.00, while the endorsement fee is $16.00
• Driver exam stations are overcrowded, forcing an endorsement applicant to schedule the skills test months in advance
• Skills tests were often postponed due to rain

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
The goal of the Enhanced Motorcycle Licensing Project was to increase the number of safe motorcycle operators in Minnesota. Objectives of the program included:

• Development of a program that targets unendorsed motorcycle operators
• Creation of a program that simplifies the endorsement process and eliminates existing disincentives for voluntary endorsement

STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES
The Enhanced Motorcycle Licensing Project was initiated in 1995 with a NHTSA Section 403 Demonstration Grant. Key elements of the original project were:

• Extended evening motorcycle skills testing hours at selected exam stations throughout Minnesota
• A strong public information and media effort advertising the evening testing hours
• The availability of state-owned training motorcycles for use by endorsement applicants

Each year of the project, nine sites from around the state are carefully selected, based on geographical representation of the general population and on the previous year's demand for skills testing. Each site provides evening motorcycle testing once a week. The evening shift is comprised of a motorcycle safety instructor and an examiner, who assists with paperwork and oversees the use of the state-owned training motorcycle. The program is advertised through "tear-off" pads publicizing the evening testing schedules, which are distributed to motorcycle dealerships and posted at driver exam stations. Press releases circulated at the beginning of each motorcycle riding season help promote the program.

In 1997, motorcycle safety personnel and advocates petitioned the State Legislature and Governor to permanently fund the project. These efforts were successful and, in addition, the permit and endorsement fees were combined to provide an incentive for the "annual permit rider" to complete the endorsement process.

RESULTS
An average of 800 motorcycle operators participated in each of the first three years of the program, and 920 operators participated in 1998. Results from post test surveys of the program participants confirmed the success of the program:

• An average 88.5 percent of respondents reported that evening hours were an important incentive to completing the skills test
• 33 percent disclosed that they would not have taken the skills test without evening testing hours

WINTER 1999