CLALLAM COUNTY – The emerging technology of electric-assisted bicycles, or e-bikes, and a Senate Bill that recently passed in the state legislature, has Clallam County officials forced to make a decision as to whether to allow them on the Olympic Discovery Trail, where the current policy states that no motorized vehicles (except wheelchairs) are allowed.
Senate Bill 6434 divides e-bikes into several classifications and states where they can and can’t be used in our state. They look much like ordinary bicycles, but a small electric motor assists the rider while they’re pedaling. Some go faster than others.
For the purposes of Clallam County officials, it looks like it comes down to e-bikes that max out at a speed of 20 mph, which state law now says can be ridden on multi-use trails unless otherwise restricted by local jurisdictions. County Commissioner Mark Ozias spoke to us after Monday’s initial work session on the subject.
“You know, we’re going to start with the Olympic Discovery Trail. We’ve had a group of Trail users and bicycle shop owners and others who have started to review what other places are doing. And after today’s work session discussion we’ve asked our Trails advisory committee to draft some initial regulations around how we might consider regulating e-bike usage on the Olympic Discovery Trail.”
Ozias says there’s a lot of support to allow e-bikes on the trail, but also those who are expressing safety concerns. One of those on the Trails Advisory Committee is County Transportation Program Manager Rich James.
“I gotta tell you that the majority of the committee is leaning towards allowing those that are speed limited to 20 miles an hour because they’re really not much faster than the average bike or bicyclist that’s out there. And I think that those could be appropriate in my personal opinion, although some of the people on the Trails Advisory Committee would strongly disagree with me. You know, the e-bikes are bigger and heavier than a regular bike, you know, certainly if people misuse them there can be quite an impact that happens, so there’s a larger possibility of out of control riding.”
The Trail Advisory Committee meets again on Wednesday, June 19 and is open to public. Ozias says he expects to see some initial recommendations from the committee sometime this summer.
Photo: E-bikes made by Yamaha