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http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/...67/detail.html
Team 4: Questions Surround Roethlisberger's Motorcycle License
POSTED: 4:46 pm EDT June 13, 2006
UPDATED: 6:00 pm EDT June 13, 2006
The following report by Team 4 investigator Jim Parsons first aired on Channel 4 Action News at 5 p.m. on June 13, 2006.
A law enforcement source close to the investigation of Monday's crash told Team 4 investigator Jim Parsons that Ben Roethlisberger does have a valid driver's license, but his motorcycle learner's permit is expired.
And there's something else.
Because Roethlisberger never completed testing for his motorcycle license, new questions are surfacing about whether the law required him to wear a helmet.
On the football field, Roethlisberger is a master of the playbook and the rulebook.
But on the road, the rules are different.
A law enforcement source close to the investigation of Monday's crash told Team 4 that Roethlisberger had an expired motorcycle learner's permit when his bike slammed into a turning car.
Here's a timeline of Roethlisberger's driving license:
According to the Ohio Department of Public Safety, his license was transferred to Pennsylvania in October 2004.
In Ohio, his license did not have a motorcycle endorsement; a source inside the Steelers' organization told Team 4 that Roethlisberger got his Pennsylvania motorcycle learner's permit in March 2005. It was valid for one year.
New questions are also being raised about whether Roethlisberger was correct last year when he said his decision to ride a motorcycle without a helmet was not a violation of the law.
When asked why he doesn't wear a helmet, Roethlisberger replied, "Because you don't have to, it's not the law. If it was the law, I'd definitely have one on every time I rode. But it's not the law so (I?) know I don't have to."
But here's what the law says: Motorcycle operators can only ride without a helmet if they have two years of riding experience -- Roethlisberger does not -- or if they have completed an approved motorcycle safety course.
Team 4 doesn't know whether Roethlisberger completed a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation-approved motorcycle safety course because PennDOT won't tell Team 4.
But typically, completing a course would lead to a motorcycle license, and our source said Roethlisberger didn't have one of those -- he was still operating on a permit, an expired one.
Was Big Ben driving legally?
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