Motorcycle Licensing, Laws & Costs by State
Gear Rider Hub 
No, and Maryland says so in as many words Maryland Transportation Article 21-1303, headed “Operating on laned roadways”, contains the sentence that settles it: a person may not operate a motorcycle between lanes of traffic or between adjacent lines or rows of vehicles. There is no exception for stopped traffic, no speed threshold and no … Read more
Two courses, and the cheap one can cost you more Maryland’s approved training comes in two forms with confusingly similar names. The Basic Rider Course is for beginners. The Basic Rider Course II — marketed as the License Waiver course — is for riders who already have some experience and need the Class M license. … Read more
In Maryland, the calendar is part of the answer Most state licensing guides are seasonless. Maryland’s should not be, because the training that most riders use to get a Class M license runs on a season: the community colleges that deliver the state-approved program schedule courses from April to October. Ask this question in November … Read more
Two true statements that sound contradictory Lane splitting is illegal in Utah. Utah was the first state in America to legalize lane filtering. Both are correct, and the gap between them is why the second-highest result for this question is a Reddit thread titled “Utah to pass law banning lane splitting”. The distinction is the … Read more
Read this before you book In most states the choice of course affects how much you pay and how much you learn. In Utah it also decides what you are legally allowed to ride afterwards, and that catches people out every season. Utah licenses riders by the engine size of the machine they passed the … Read more
The machine you test on decides what you may ride Utah does something no rider expects from an American state, and getting it wrong is expensive because the fix is another test. Your license is restricted to the engine size of the motorcycle you passed the riding test on. Test on a 250 and you … Read more
Two insurances, not one Missouri’s helmet exemption is usually summarised as “26 and insured”. That summary is missing half the requirement. RSMo 302.026, in force since 28 August 2020, states that a qualified motorcycle operator aged twenty-six or older may ride without protective headgear “if he or she in addition to maintaining proof of financial … Read more
No — and Missouri does it without a motorcycle law Lane splitting is not permitted in Missouri, and neither is filtering past stopped traffic. What is interesting about Missouri is how the state gets there, because it is not the way most people assume. Several states prohibit this in a statute written specifically about motorcycles. … Read more
The permit you ride on your own Missouri does something in its instruction permit statute that almost no other state does, and it is buried in a subordinate clause. Under RSMo 302.130, a temporary instruction permit entitles the holder to drive for twelve months, but the holder “must be accompanied by a licensed operator… who … Read more
Everyone, on everything with two wheels and a motor North Carolina’s rule is one of the simplest in the country and one of the broadest. In the NCDMV’s own words: “all operators and passengers on motorcycles and mopeds must wear a motorcycle safety helmet of a type that complies with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard … Read more