Oregon bill seeks to ban Class 3 e-bikes from sidewalks, bike lanes, and paths – BikePortland

The Oregon Legislative session is in its infancy but we’ve already got a few bills worth tracking. Chief among them is a bill from Senator Floyd Prozanski (D-Eugene) that could have a massive impact on the thousands of people who ride Class 3 electric bicycles in Oregon.

Senate Bill 471 would prohibit the use of Class 3 e-bikes on sidewalks, bicycle lanes and bicycle paths. Specifically, it would add “Class 3 electric assisted bicycle” to an existing law (ORS 814.210) that regulates the use of mopeds on sidewalks, bike lanes and bike paths.

Class 3 e-bikes have motors that assist the rider up to 28 mph and they don’t have throttles. They’re very common and popular. I prefer Class 3 e-bikes because I like having the extra speed and power when I want it. Of my three e-bikes, two of them are Class 3 (a Specialized Vado (above) and a Riese & Müller Carrie). Oregon went to a three-class categorization system for e-bikes in the 2024 legislative session. The other two classes have top speeds (from the motor) of 20 mph. Class 1 has no throttle and electric-assist up to 20 mph, Class 2 has a throttle and a motor that can propel the rider up to 20 mph.

SB 471 would push the legal definition of Class 3 e-bikes closer to that of a moped, and in some legal contexts, would no longer consider Class 3 e-bikes to be “bicycles” at all. In Section 2 of the bill text, the proposed change would remove Class 3 e-bikes from the right-of-way protections afforded to bicycles in ORS 811.050 — meaning that people on Class 3 e-bikes would not have legal protection against a car user if that car user failed to yield to them in a bike lane.

Another change SB 471 seeks to make is an addition to ORS 814.430 (“Improper use of lanes”) that would give a Class 3 e-bike rider the legal right to use a bicycle lane or bicycle path, “only when the bicycle is powered exclusively by human power.”

How a law enforcement officer or judge could determine whether or not the motor was being used is unclear. Also unclear is the motivation behind this bill and what problem Senator Prozanski seeks to fix with these changes.

One lawyer and bicycle law expert I shared the bill language with said, “Removing right-of-way protection for Class 3 e-bikes in bike lanes, regardless of rider speed, has big implications for liability determination. And regulating based on e-bike class, rather than speed, is such an imprecise way to do it. How many people ride e-bikes they don’t realize are Class 3, and wouldn’t have the right-of-way in bike lanes under this bill, even if they’re only riding 15-20mph?”

I’ve reached out to Sen. Prozanski’s office and will share more as the session moves forward.