E-bikes are popping up all
over Portland these days.
(Illustration: Mark Young/
Portland Storyboard)
Whether you like them or not, electric bikes have arrived and it looks like they’re here to stay. E-bikes can now be found in almost every local bike shop, major manufacturers are adding e-assist to a growing number of urban and cargo bikes, and e-bikes can be spotted among bike traffic more and more. But what about the laws governing their specifications and usage?
This isn’t intended to be legal advice, as I’m not a lawyer, but a brief summary of e-bike related law at the federal, state, and local levels.
Federal Law
At the Federal level, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) relegated defining what an e-bike is to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The CPSC defines a low-speed electric bicycle as:
“… a two- or three-wheeled vehicle with fully operable pedals and an electric motor of less than 750 watts (1 h.p.), whose maximum speed on a paved level surface, when powered solely by such a motor while ridden by an operator who weighs 170 pounds, is less than 20 mph. (Public Law No. 107-319, section 1, 116 Stat. 2776 (2002))”
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