Some motorcyclists in South Carolina drive for months and even years without passing a road test because they can renew their beginner's permits every six months.

"I'm ashamed to say it, but I've got some friends that for over 15 years renewed permits instead of taking the test and getting a license," said Fred Ruddock, state coordinator of ABATE, a motorcyclists' rights organization.

A spokeswoman for the state Department of Motor Vehicles said it isn't a big danger to the public or the motorcyclists because the department can refuse to renew permits or issue new ones if the applicants haven't made a "bona fide effort" to pass the road test.

Beth Parks said the agency does refuse to reissue permits, but she couldn't provide numbers or records showing how often.

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"We don't capture whether or not we refuse to issue a permit," she said. "The holder would simply have an expired permit, and we have no way of determining why it's expired."

Nor could Parks produce records showing how many permit holders have renewed more than once in the past five years.

Ed Hass, a spokesman for ABATE, said laws in other states allow unlimited permit renewals. Hass said he once lived in Pennsylvania where a motorcycle permit can be held for a year.

In South Carolina, there is no limit on the number of renewals for car and motorcycle permits.

To get a permit, the applicant must be 15 years old and pass a vision test and a multiple-choice test. With a permit, the driver can operate a motorcycle from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. During daylight saving time, the motorcyclist has two extra hours to cruise the streets.

No driving test is required to drive a motorcycle with a permit.

If a motorcycle permit-holder already has a passenger vehicle class D license, the six-month wait to get a class M (motorcycle license) is waived. To be a licensed motorcycle driver, a person must pass a road test on a DMV course that requires him to perform maneuvers and demonstrate skill in handling the motorcycle.

The state DMV has recently partnered with the Motorcycle Safety Foundation to update motorcycle-testing sites and the driving test to help people drive motorcycles safely.

With the new test, motorcyclists will have to weave through cones and demonstrate a U-turn, Parks said. Examiners will measure sharp turns and regular and abrupt stops with instruments rather than by visual observation, she said.

"I personally believe it's a better idea because the old test is a joke," said Ruddock, who got his motorcycle license in the '70s.

The test will be much more objective and will be given consistently across the state, Parks said. Already more than half of the state's 169 examiners who give motorcycle tests have been certified with the new program, Parks said.