SALEM, OR -- Oregon’s House unanimously passed a watered-down electric bike bill, Tuesday, "Which adds a Class One, Class Two and Class Three definition," Rep. Emerson Levy (D-Central OR) said during a floor speech, "This completely aligns with federal law."

Levy’s original bill would have created an e-bike education program, allowed kids under 16 to ride class-one e-bikes, and fined parents of riders under 16 who violate the law. But the bill now headed to the Senate only, "Does one simple thing," according to Levy, "It modifies the definition of electric-assisted bicycles for the purpose of the Oregon vehicle code." She added, "The age in Oregon law has always been 16 to ride an e-bike. We did not address that in this bill."

Levy told the chamber, "We have named this law Trenton’s Law after Trenton Burger, who tragically passed away in an e-bike accident this summer in Bend. Trenton was 15 years old. He was riding a Class-two e-bike with his friends when he was struck by a vehicle and killed. This started a process of bringing parties together from our police department, to our school superintendents, bike advocates, ODOT. In this process, we learned that our laws around electric bikes had not been changed since 1997. We have completely new technology that will continue to evolve and keep our communities safe. And we need to evolve too."

She says this small step is just the beginning, "Trenton’s Law is more than HB 4103. It’s a commitment to work for as long as it takes to make our infrastructure stronger for families, to support educational programs in our community and to make sure that everyone is safe on the road, no matter their form of transportation."

Under the bill, a Class-one e-bike only engages the motor if the rider is pedaling, and shuts off the motor at 20 miles an hour. Class-two has a motor that operates even without pedaling, but also stops at 20 mph. And Class-three shuts off the motor at 28 mph.