Los Angeles: California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will not be slapped with a ticket for driving without a license after crashing his Harley Davidson at the weekend, Los Angeles police said on Wednesday.
The movie star politician, who ironically has banned illegal immigrants from obtain obtaining California driver's licenses, got into hot water after admitting he did not have a proper license to drive his motorcycle.
"I just never really got one," the brawny actor and former bodybuilder said. "I never thought about it."
The 58-year-old former action movie star is sporting a fat lip after receiving 15 stitches following the accident that occurred when a driver reversed out in front of the gubernatorial motorbike.
But police and city prosecutors announced that he would not face any charge over the accident that took place near as Schwarzenegger and his 12-year-old son Patrick took a ride near their Los Angeles compound.
"The LAPD (Los Angeles Police Department) does not issue a motorist a citation unless that person is observed by the officer committing a traffic violation," said LAPD spokesman, Officer Jason Lee.
Frank Mateljan of the city attorney's office said prosecutors reviewed the police report on the matter then sent it back to the LAPD, saying "it was their call whether or not to cite" the governor.
The comments came after a Los Angeles police spokeswoman said on Tuesday that Schwarzenegger was breaking the law by riding his bike, which boasts a sidecar, without a so-called M-1 license.
"He does have a driver's license, but that license is not specified for a motorcycle," said LAPD officer Sara Faden on Tuesday. "It's an infraction. In technical terms, it's illegal."
But the state's Department of Motor Vehicles, citing a different portion of California vehicle code, said the governor was in the clear because drivers can operate a three-wheeled motorcycle without a special license and the Terminator's bike has a sidecar.
"According to the DMV, the governor obeyed the law," spokesman Mike Miller said.
A spokeswoman for the governor said he would be updating his permit regardless and that he would stay off the road until he had his new license.
"It doesn't matter about LAPD's change in interpretation," said Schwarzenegger spokeswoman, Margita Thompson, "because the governor said he needs to get the proper certification."
Schwarzenegger has said that the four-wheel drive Volvo that he hit on Sunday backed out in front of him when its driver failed to notice him.
"It was just too short of a distance for me to put the brakes on," he said after the crash that his son escaped from unscathed.
At a budget unveiling on Tuesday, the Republican governor, whose wife is from a famous Democratic family, joked that when the car pulled out he was paralyzed by his political predicament.
"I just couldn't make a decision which way to go. I knew if I turned left that the Republicans will get mad, and I knew if I turned right my wife will get mad. So I just crashed right into the car. This was the safer thing to do," he said
Comments
0 comment