Someone gets killed by a car, so they restrict e-bikes.
(Title shamelessly stolen from this comment [https://lemmy.world/comment/8432905] in the crossposted [email protected] [/c/[email protected]] thread.)
Umm that’s not exactly what they’re saying.
It would update a 27-year-old law to create three new classes of electric bikes based on the type of motor and how fast they can go.
Hell the ACTUAL statute is just defining what a e-bike is. You can see it here: olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2024r1/…/HB4103
It does say class 1 can be operated by anyone, but 2 and 3 can be limited to 16 and older.
That being said it does limit the top speed of an e-bike to 28 miles an hour, I assume above that it’s now a motocycle, and honestly, that might be a good thing, because at that speed they no will come out of no where (hell at 20-30 miles an hour they still will)
This is hardly as bad as the title.
I have a Class 3 (28mph), it’s actually not too bad. That assumes the brakes are well-maintained, though, and as we know there are no inspections for e-bikes. I’ve seen some terrifyingly bad brakes on normal bicycles, so I can’t imagine what some people’s e-bikes look like.
It should be mandatory for Class 2 and Class 3 e-bikes to have hydraulic disc brakes imo. I have mechanical disc brakes, and I have to tighten them at least once a month. It seems unwise to trust that the average person would do that. Rim brakes are right out; they have nowhere near enough braking power for the speed and weight of most e-bikes.
grue