(Spirit Lake)– Driving tests for motorcycle licenses will soon be available locally through the Dickinson County Treasurer’s Office and its driver’s license station. The Board of Supervisors today (Tues.) approved a request to offer the tests on a weekly basis in the southwest corner of the courthouse parking lot.
Kendra Clayton is a deputy with the Dickinson County Driver’s License Station. She says currently those wanting to take the test must drive at least an hour or so to get to such a facility, or are relegated to taking the test on Saturday morning’s through the ABATE program…
“Currently we offer the knowledge test but to into the skills test they would have to go to a state location. The closest state location is either Fort Dodge or Sioux City, or they could go to another county office that offers it. The local county offices would be Lyon county, Kossuth county, or O’Brien, so it’s still at least a 45 minute to an hour drive to go into the skills test. With them starting at 9:00 in the morning and then, too, we also run into when our customers get all the way over there and they can’t do the test if it’s raining, so they’ll go that hour drive over there and find out it’s raining in Algona and have to turn around and come home.”
Clayton, who’s an instructor, says expense to the county will be limited to the cost of some cones and painting for the test course. She says the testing will be done locally by appointment on Fridays beginning at 9:00 am. Clayton says outside of that, the area of the lot designated for the testing will be opened back up for parking.
She didn’t give a firm start date, saying that’s dependent upon getting the painting done for the course along with the successful completion of an instructor’s audit by the state.
