(TNS) — Less than a month after The News Tribune reported that youth on electric dirt bikes had been speeding about Tacoma neighborhoods, a new law went into effect Thursday seeking to stop that activity.
The law, passed during the state legislative session, provides clearer differences between e-bikes and electric motorcycles. Under the law, e-bikes cannot go over 20 mph without the rider pedaling and cannot have a motor that produces more than 750 watts of power. If an e-bike fails to meet those requirements, it will legally be considered an electric motorcycle, which requires a license and the rider to be 16 years or older, per the statute.
Electric-assisted bicycles (or e-bikes) are defined as bicycles with two or three wheels, a saddle, fully operative pedals for human propulsion and an electric motor. Class 3 e-bikes are defined as having a motor that stops providing assistance to the rider when the bicycle reaches 28 mph and is equipped with a speedometer…