Scoot Legally
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ Scooters are no longer just the vehicle of choice around recreational campgrounds.
They are flying out of the motorsports shops across Southern Illinois and onto the streets of Du Quoin as gas prices tax the wallets of teens and adults alike.
Du Quoin Assistant Chief of Police Jamie Ellermeyer told the newspaper Wednesday that his department keeps getting inquiries from parents about what's legal and what's not on local streets.
He said parents and riders alike are taking their newfound ride too casually. Inexperienced riders--many only 13 and 14 years old--are climbing on and taking to the streets illegally. They are inexperienced. They are having fun, but are subject to traffic citations and fines which take the edge off summer.
"Any driver or rider has to be 16 and have a driver's license," said Ellermeyer.
Any traffic violation including underage driving without a license could delay a teen getting their license until age 17 or 18 under the state's graduated licensing program.
These are the Illinois motorcycle laws that you need to know.
- You must be a licensed driver to operate a motorcycle or scooter.
- You can operate a scooter or moped rated at less than 50 cc's without a Class L or Class M motorcycle test and license.
- Class L license is allows you to operate any motor-driven cycle with less than 150cc displacement.
- Class M license allows you to operate any motorcycle, any motor-driven cycle or scooter.
- By taking the motorcycle safety course at Southern Illinois University you can learn motorcycle safety, be tested at the site, and receive a certificate of completion. The driverÕs license station will simply apply the Class M certification to an existing license. If you are a first time driver, other vision tests, etc. are required.
- Illinois does not require a safety helmet, but does require eye protection. Lack of such a law is the subject of great controversy.
- Insurance is required by law with minimum limits of liability of 20/40/15. Contact your insurance company before buying a motorcycle or scooter. Insurance can be higher or lower depending upon whose name the motorcycle or scooter is titled to. They can give you quotes on premiums.
- Hand grips must be below the shoulder height.
- Illinois accepts licensing endorsements from other states.
- Lane splitting--rising side by side-- is not permitted.
- Operating headlights are required and should be used even during daytime hours as a matter of safety.