The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
343.16
(1) (a)
General. Except when examination by a 3rd-party tester is permitted under pars. (b) to (c), the department shall examine every applicant for an operator's license, including applicants for license renewal as provided in sub. (3), and every applicant for authorization to operate a vehicle class or type for which the applicant does not hold currently valid authorization, other than an instruction permit. Except as provided in sub. (2) (cm) and (e), the examinations of applicants for licenses authorizing operation of "Class A", "Class B", "Class C", "Class D" or "Class M" vehicles shall include both a knowledge test and an actual demonstration in the form of a driving skills test of the applicant's ability to exercise ordinary and reasonable control in the operation of a representative vehicle. The department shall not administer a driving skills test to a person applying for authorization to operate "Class M" vehicles who has failed 2 previous such skills tests unless the person has successfully completed a rider course approved by the department. The department may, by rule, exempt certain persons from the rider course requirement of this paragraph. The department may not require a person
who is applying for authorization to operate "Class M" vehicles
and who has successfully completed a
basic rider course approved by the
department Wisconsin department of transportation motorcycle safety program to hold an instruction permit under s. 343.07 (4) prior to the department's issuance of a license authorizing the operation of "Class M" vehicles. The department may not require a person applying for authorization to operate "Class M" vehicles who holds an instruction permit under s. 343.07 (4) to hold it for a minimum period of time before administering a driving skills test. The driving skills of applicants for endorsements authorizing the operation of commercial motor vehicles equipped with air brakes, the transportation of passengers in commercial motor vehicles or the operation of school buses, as provided in s. 343.04 (2) (b), (d) or (e), shall also be tested by an actual demonstration of driving skills. The department may endorse an applicant's commercial driver license for transporting hazardous materials requiring placarding or any quantity of a material listed as a select agent or toxin under
42 CFR 73, subject to s. 343.125, or for the operation of tank vehicles or vehicles towing double or triple trailers, as described in s. 343.04 (2) (a), (c) or (f), based on successful completion of a knowledge test. In administering the knowledge test, the department shall attempt to accommodate any special needs of the applicant. Except as may be required by the department for an "H" or "S" endorsement, the knowledge test is not intended to be a test for literacy or English language proficiency. This paragraph does not prohibit the department from requiring an applicant to correctly read and understand highway signs.
