(a) No person shall operate a motorcycle on any public highway of this state until such person has obtained a motor vehicle operator’s license with a motorcycle endorsement from the commissioner.

      (b) A person who is sixteen years of age or older and who has not had such a license suspended or revoked may apply to the commissioner for a training permit. The commissioner may issue a training permit, containing such limitation as said commissioner deems advisable, to an applicant after the applicant has passed all parts of the examination, other than the driving test, for a motor vehicle operator’s license with a motorcycle endorsement as required by subsection (c) of this section. The training permit shall entitle the applicant, while said applicant is in immediate possession of said permit, to drive a motorcycle on the public highways, other than multiple lane limited access highways, for a period of sixty days. A training permit may be renewed, or a new permit issued, for an additional period of sixty days. On and after January 1, 1990, each applicant issued a training permit shall, while operating a motorcycle, wear protective headgear of a type which conforms to the minimum specifications established by regulations adopted under subsection (b) of section 14-289g.

      (c) Before granting a motorcycle endorsement to any applicant who has not held such an endorsement at any time within the preceding two years, the commissioner shall require the applicant to demonstrate personally to the commissioner, a deputy or a motor vehicle inspector or an agent of the commissioner, in such manner as the commissioner directs, that the applicant is a proper person to operate a motorcycle, has sufficient knowledge of the mechanism of a motorcycle to ensure its safe operation by such applicant, and has satisfactory knowledge of the law concerning motorcycles and other motor vehicles and the rules of the road. An applicant under the age of eighteen shall also present evidence satisfactory to the commissioner that such applicant has successfully completed a novice motorcycle training course conducted by the Department of Transportation or by any firm or organization that conducts such a course that uses the curriculum of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation or other safety or educational organization that has developed a curriculum approved by the commissioner. The commissioner may waive the on-road skills portion of the examination for the endorsement for any such applicant or an applicant who is eighteen years of age or older who presents evidence of satisfactorily completing a motorcycle training course. If an applicant has had a license or held such an endorsement from a state where a similar examination or course is required, the commissioner may waive part or all of any such requirement. When the commissioner is satisfied as to the ability and competency of the applicant, the commissioner may issue an endorsement to such applicant, either unlimited or containing such limitations as the commissioner deems advisable. If an applicant or motorcycle endorsement holder has any health problem which might affect such person’s ability to operate a motorcycle safely, the commissioner may require the applicant or endorsement holder to demonstrate personally that, notwithstanding the problem, such person is a proper person to operate a motorcycle, and the commissioner may further require a certificate of the applicant’s condition, signed by a medical authority designated by the commissioner, which certificate shall, in all cases, be treated as confidential by the commissioner. An endorsement, containing such limitation as the commissioner deems advisable may be issued or renewed in any case, but nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the commissioner from refusing an endorsement, either limited or unlimited, to any person or suspending an endorsement of a person whom the commissioner deems incapable of safely operating a motorcycle.

      (d) No person shall operate a motorcycle in any manner in violation of the limitations imposed in a limited endorsement issued to such person.

      (e) Any person who violates any provision of subsection (a), (b) or (d) of this section shall, for a first offense, be deemed to have committed an infraction and be fined not less than thirty-five dollars or more than fifty dollars and, for any subsequent offense, shall be fined not more than one hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days, or both.