Bend lawmaker proposing legislation to clean up decades-old e-bike laws; bike safety advocates say more action needed

(Update: Adding video, comments by Levy, bike, pedestrian safety advocates)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- With more kids riding e-bikes in Bend, state Rep. Emerson Levy, D-Bend, is looking to clean up laws which are decades old. She says it's a crucial first step to make it safer for everyone to be on the road. But bike and pedestrian safety advocates said the state needs to invest in safer routes as well.

Currently, kids under 16 aren't allowed to ride any type of e-bikes, whether its pedal assist or has a throttle. Her legislation would make it legal for kids under 16 to ride a pedal-assisted e-bike, while keeping it illegal to ride an e-bike with a throttle.

"Yes, they both can go fast, but one requires you to pedal, and that's a different experience," Levy told NewsChannel 21. "We think having to pedal gets the goal to of getting kids outside and biking."

Levy says she thinks its just not realistic for already burdened police departments to enforce e-bike laws. Instead, she hopes to ramp up education at home and in schools - something Bend's Commute Options is already doing. 

"We now have education in our schools for e-bike safety and bike safety that didn't exist even three months ago," Emerson said. "So I'm really proud that we're teaching road safety, but we're asking parents and caregivers to be a part of this, too."

Levy added that this is a needed first step so they can address the root causes of traffic deaths, like safe infrastructure:: "We have to do this first step, and ODOT, or Oregon Department of Transportation has told us that they have to change the laws, and then we can do so much more."

Sarah Iannarone is executive director of The Street Trust, which advocates for bikers and pedestrians across Oregon. They also lead education efforts similar to Commute Options. While she supports Representative Levy's proposed legislation, she thinks action on building safe infrastructure needs to be taken now. 

"We are so glad that she (Levy) is promoting street safety," Iannarone told us. "It's something that we share. At the end of the day, though, our recommendations to her would be to focus on the real problem, which is the most dangerous types of behavior on the road, which is excessive speeding of motor vehicles. Pedestrian fatalities and road user fatalities are a consequence of speeding motor vehicles."

The Street Trust was frustrated by the lack of funding for infrastructure in the latest legislative session.

"We fought in the last legislative session for $500 million to go towards s great streets program in Oregon," Iannarone said. "By the end of that session, it was watered down to $1 million. I mean, this is the type of thing that everyone across Oregon should be concerned about, is the lack of money for safe infrastructure."

Jim Elliott is one on the board of directors for Bend Bikes, and also runs a bike bus for his grandson and his friends to Bear Creek Elementary. He thinks this legislation will help get more kids legally on bikes, but agrees the root problem of road safety is safe infrastructure.     

"We've had 1,200 motor vehicle accidents in Bend the first nine months of the year," Elliott said. "The most we've ever had in a year was 900, so we're on pace -- and those didn't involve e-bikes, those involve cars."

He said he hopes updating the rules will help qualm all the frustration with kids riding e-bikes in town.

"If you don't update the rules, people keep bringing that up. Well, we've got these 16-year-olds riding their e-bikes," Elliott said. "Well, it's now legal. But we're working with the schools, they're taking classes, they're learning how to do things. If you've been to any of the elementary schools and watched the pick-up drop-off lines, everybody's driving their kids to school. And one of the main reasons they give is, 'Well, our streets are unsafe."

Levy plans to introduce this e-bike legislation, along with another bill, a school safety measure called Alyssa's Law. She says the e-bike law has support from several areas across the state.