PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Among the 2,300 bills introduced at the beginning of Oregon's legislative session on Tuesday, one proposed law could limit where some electric bicyclists can ride.

Senate Bill 471 -- introduced by Democratic state Senator Floyd Prozanski-- would ban Class 3 e-bikes from bike lanes, sidewalks and bike paths.

The senator told KOIN 6 News on Tuesday that his bill aims to keep all travelers safe.

“The concern, from my perspective, is that we want to make certain all of these paths and trails are safe for all. That people can use them with respect for each other,” Prozanski said.

In Oregon, Class 3 e-bikes have a maximum motor assistance motor speed of 28 miles per hour, while Class 1 and 2 e-bikes have max assistance motor speeds of 20 miles per hour.

“Unfortunately, there are a number of situations that have occurred where individuals that are on full throttle e-bikes are not really being respectful to others in the sense of the speed they're riding on these paths, and either near misses or actual accidents that have occurred," Prozanski explained.

“I cycle a lot, I do in Eugene, and I use many of the paths on our way out to get out onto roads and do road riding. There have been times where I’ve visually seen people actually have the near miss. I’ve had other anecdotal stories told to me of where there have been actual accidents or collisions,” the senator added.

The Oregon Department of Transportation started collecting data on e-bike crashes in 2022, and with only preliminary crash data available for 2023, the agency told KOIN 6 News it is too early to identify any trends in e-bike crashes.

According to data provided by ODOT, 2022 saw two fatal e-bike crashes and 83 non-fatal e-bike crashes. A majority (71) of those crashes occurred during the day, with 56 occurring in intersections.

Meanwhile, preliminary data from 2023 shows a decrease in e-bike crashes with one fatal crash and 55 non-fatal crashes, according to ODOT.

The senator emphasized safety for people on pathways, noting, “For my years of riding, it appears that many individuals that are using full throttle e-bikes are just not either conscious or respectful as to the situation they are creating by driving those type of vehicles that are at excessive rates of speed and also not giving any verbal signaling as they are passing others on those paths."

The senator also dispelled concerns that drivers would no longer have to yield to e-bikes on the road.

“The rules of the road [are] still going to be applicable,” Prozanski explained, noting, “I was the author of the bill that actually allowed for bicyclists to use the stop sign or view the stop sign as a yield sign. But as you know, under that law, you still have a duty to right-of-way.”

The senator said, if passed, the law would be enforced like any other traffic code by law enforcement.

“The intent of this bill is basically for safety and ensuring that certain riding apparatuses may not be appropriate for certain parts of the roads or paths that are being utilized by other users of those paths, such as pedestrians," Prozanski said. “I would say that at this point, if it's a full-throttle, non-assist vehicle, I would question why it should even be on one of these paths, that it would, in fact, be one that should be on the roadway, just like any other type of full-throttle vehicle."