The Funny Farm

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California has finally gotten a motorcycle license after riding his Harley-Davidsons for years in movies and off without one.

A spokeswoman for the governor, Margita Thompson, said he passed both a written and a riding test and got the required permit on Monday, nearly six months after he crashed one of his Harleys into an S.U.V. pulling out of a driveway while riding near his Los Angeles home with his 12-year-old son in a sidecar.

The governor, who needed 15 stitches on his upper lip, said at the time that he had not bothered to get the proper license because he had "never thought about it."

The Los Angeles Police Department did not issue any citations in the accident because department officials said no police officer saw what had happened. Officials at the Department of Motor Vehicles also cleared the governor of any violation, noting that because of the sidecar he was not technically riding on two wheels.

But Ms. Thompson said Mr. Schwarzenegger, who broke six ribs in an accident years earlier, had not ridden since the January crash. She said he had been too busy governing but had finally taken time this week to make himself a legal motorcyclist.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger loves to talk about roaring down the Pacific Coast Highway on his Harley-Davidson, the wind in his hair. But he acknowledged Tuesday one small problem in that free-as-a-bird scenario: He "never thought about" getting a license to pilot his hog, which police say he's been driving illegally -- apparently for years.

"I just never really applied for it," he told reporters during a press conference to unveil his 2006-07 state budget. "It was just one of those things that I never really did."

As the governor spoke, 15 nasty-looking stitches were visible in his lip, the result of a weekend motorcycle accident that brought to light the story of the scofflaw gubernatorial Harley rider.

Schwarzenegger was tooling through Los Angeles' Brentwood neighborhood Sunday carrying his 12-year-old son, Patrick, in a sidecar when a motorist backed out of a driveway and a minor accident occurred.

A spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Police Department said the governor "did not have M-1 (endorsement) on his license," which is mandatory for motorcycle riders.

While that's illegal, "the only law that was broken was that he didn't have the right certification. ... It's an infraction," Officer April Harding said.

The lack of a proper license means the governor, who recently signed a bill toughening driving laws for teenagers, apparently has been an illegal rider for years. The former movie star, who was involved in a motorcycle accident in Santa Monica in 2001, has reveled in his image as a macho Harley rider since his trademark role in the movie "Terminator" and makes no secret about enjoying weekly rides with motorcycle-loving friends like actor Tom Arnold.

Still, the governor wasn't ticketed when LAPD officers responded to the accident this weekend.

"If you have a valid driver's license, and you're caught driving a motorcycle (without the proper endorsement), it's up to the responding officer's discretion'' to cite a driver, Harding said.

"He wasn't cited. Nothing's going to happen,'' Harding said. "The infraction is not even a misdemeanor.''

Later, however, Los Angeles police Lt. Paul Vernon told the Associated Press that Schwarzenegger does not have the proper license to ride the motorcycle even with a sidecar. 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.

Schwarzenegger told reporters Tuesday that he had the right license for motorcycle riding when he lived in his native Austria and later in Germany, but he said it just didn't occur to him that he needed one after he came to the United States in 1968.

And he joked about his accident, saying "a car pulled out in front of me, and I just couldn't make a decision which way to go."

"I knew if I turned left, the Republicans would get mad," he said to laughs, "and if I turned right, my wife would get mad. So I just crashed ... it was the safer thing to do."

Still, the incident, during the week in which Schwarzenegger unveiled his annual state budget, prompted Democrats to get in a few jokes and jabs.

"What is it with this guy?" said sharp-tongued Democratic strategist Garry South, who is advising gubernatorial candidate Steve Westly. "He thinks, 'I'm Arnold Schwarzenegger, and I don't have to go by the rules?' "

Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and state Senate Pro Tem Don Perata, delivering their official responses to the governor's budget, first whipped out their own driver's licenses for a photo op while deadpanning that they, at least, were legal on California's roads.

State Treasurer Phil Angelides, a Democratic candidate for governor, suggested that the governor's 2006 budget was so flawed that maybe Schwarzenegger should seek "a license to govern."

Schwarzenegger's press secretary, Margita Thompson, said that the governor holds a Class C driver's license, which allows him to drive a motorcycle with a sidecar. But she confirmed he does not have the M-1 endorsement on his license for driving a two-wheel motorcycle on the street.

To get the M-1 endorsement, a driver has to pass a Department of Motor Vehicle skills test or take a motorcycle training course from a California Highway Patrol approved source, and failing to do so results in fines of $250 or more, according to state law.

Thompson, asked if the governor could get the proper insurance for his bike if he didn't have the proper license, said only that "we have been focused on the state budget. The governor has said he needs to get the endorsement, and he will. But our attention has been focused" on more pressing matters.

But Dane Simms, whose family owns Hayward-based Ron Simms Custom Cycles, a well-known East Bay mecca for Harley riders started by his father, said that "for him to say that he didn't know about it is just B.S."

Most hog riders know what they need to do to keep the law at bay, "especially cats in their 40s and 50s," Simms said. "But he probably won't even get fined."

Ben Roethlisberger might have been riding without a license to drive a motorcycle when he was involved in an accident Monday.

Pittsburgh television station KDKA reported Tuesday that police are checking whether the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback had a license.

Sources told the TV station that Roethlisberger had a license to operate a car but has never had a Pennsylvania motorcycle license.

Roethlisberger had a learner's permit to operate a motorcycle that expired March 29 but had never taken the written and driving tests for a motorcycle license, a source told KDKA.

Pittsburgh police spokeswoman Tammy Ewin told the station that police would "have no comment on licensing issues" until after the accident investigation.

Roethlisberger, the youngest quarterback to lead a team to the Super Bowl championship, had surgery Monday for injuries suffered in a motorcycle crash.

His condition was upgraded Tuesday to fair, and doctors said the Super Bowl star fractured his upper and lower jaw bones and broke his nose. He also sustained head lacerations in addition to losing two teeth and chipping several others.

Roethlisberger, 24, was not wearing a helmet, police said. He has said he likes to ride without one, a habit that once prompted a lecture from Pittsburgh coach Bill Cowher.

In May 2005, Cowher warned him about safe riding after Cleveland Browns tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. was injured in a motorcycle accident. Winslow tore knee ligaments and was lost for the season.

Roethlisberger has pointed out a Pennsylvania state law requiring helmets was amended in September 2003 to make helmets optional.