Senate Bill 729, which seeks to clarify the existing bicycle brake requirement so that fixed-gear bicycles don’t need an additional brake (as long as they meet the performance standard), got its first hearing on the House side of the capitol in Salem this morning.
The House Judiciary Committee unanimously passed the bill and now it moves to the to the House floor for a vote. Since it has already passed the Senate, all that’s left is a favorable House vote and the bill will become law.
Committee Chair Greg McPherson, speaking to lawyer Mark Ginsberg at the end of the work session summed up the state’s position,
“In other words, we’re making sure our statutes conform to the federal standard as to the distance within which a bicycle has to be able to stop and we don’t regulate how it has to accomplish that, just as long at there’s equipment that allows that to happen.”
After the work session this morning, Judiciary Committee members joked that someone should bring a fixie into House chambers for a demonstration before the vote. No word yet on whether that’s going to happen.
For more background on this story, browse my fixed-gear article archives.