Safety classes to resume at Long Island motorcycle schools after new contract is signed

Two Long Island motorcycle training schools and a dozen-plus schools across the state are gearing up to resume basic riding courses that were paused after a multimillion-dollar state contract with the Motorcycle Safety Foundation expired, according to several schools owners.

When the Motorcycle Safety Foundation’s contract with the state Department of Motor Vehicles ended in March, schools couldn’t run courses that follow the foundation’s training program until another contract kicked in last week.

The foundation is a national not-for-profit organization that has administered New York State's Motorcycle Safety Program for at least 15 years and by last April had 2,000 people trained across the state, according to Brandi Behling, program manager with the program and the nonprofit foundation.

Behling said the foundation estimated that 18,000 people were expected to take the courses during this year’s riding season. Now she’s not sure the schools will be able to make up for lost time.

"That’s a hard blow to both the Motorcycle Safety Foundation and to those schools," Behling said. "It's heartbreaking ... There are people that should have been in classes, that wanted classes."

The new $6.5 million contract was approved on Friday by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli's office, which had been reviewing the contract as well as a bid protest that was received on Nov. 27, according to Mark Johnson, a spokesman with the comptroller's office.

Johnson said the comptroller’s office received the contract in March from the DMV.

The six-week contract lapse hampered operations for motorcycle schools during the start of riding season, leaving many people on waiting lists and raising questions about safety, some school owners said. Riders who successfully complete the foundation's beginner training courses bypass the DMV’s state road test.

Schools are now scrambling to catch up.

Big Apple Motorcycle School, which offers riding courses at Heckscher State Park, would have had hundreds of students trained to ride by now, according to Diane Ortiz, the school’s president.

"It's very disappointing that we have hundreds of students that would have already been trained who are now likely to possibly go out on their motorcycle without any training and without any license. It's a danger to everyone," Ortiz added.

Steve Bertoline, 64, owner of On The Road Again Motorcycle School, which offers courses in Nassau, Suffolk and Queens, said it was the first time he experienced this issue since he opened 12 years ago. He said he started booking clients in January but couldn't hold classes after March 15. He doesn't understand why another extension wasn't provided.

"It was a bit of a hardship and unnerving," Bertoline said recently in a phone interview. "We actually didn't know if we were even going to have a business, because this was so unprecedented. We had no idea what was really happening."

The issue caught the attention of State Sen. Jeremy Cooney (D-Rochester), who is chair of the Senate Committee on Transportation. In a statement, Cooney said he "was in continuous communication with our state DMV encouraging ways to get these safety courses open immediately." He said he is glad the administrative process is complete.

Chris Beckhans, president of the nonprofit Long Island ABATE (American Bikers for Awareness, Training and Education), said the contract lapse should have never happened. He said the schools play an important part in safety.

"You’re affecting people’s lives as well as their livelihood," Beckhans said.

Long Island has seen a spike in motorcyclists and their passengers killed. In 2024, there were at least 34 motorcycle riders killed in crashes, compared with 25 in 2023, according to a database maintained by Newsday based on articles and police news releases. So far this year, there were four motorcyclists killed in crashes, including most recently, a motorcyclist killed Friday in an alleged road rage crash on the Long Island Expressway in North Hills.

According to the governor’s Traffic Safety Committee website, "unlicensed or improperly licensed" motorcycle riders are responsible for about half of all fatal motorcycle-related crashes in the state.