As I reported yesterday, the fixed-gear brake bill is moving along nicely in Salem. What I didn’t mention was that an amendment has been added to the bill that will allow police bicycles to be equipped with a siren.
Here’s the deal. Existing Oregon statute (ORS 815.280(b)) states that,
“A person shall not install or use any siren or whistle upon a bicycle.”
This was problem for the Oregon Association Chiefs of Police because a police vehicle is not considered official unless it has a siren.
They want bicycles to be considered official police vehicles, so they worked to change the law. Since it’s a change to the bicycle equipment statute, they figured the fixed-gear bill was a good opportunity to do some legislative housekeeping.
The irony is that the fixed-gear bill, which came into being because of legal disagreements with police officers now has the support of a statewide police lobbying group.
The bill, with the siren amendment are expected to signed into law in the coming months.