HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	1945
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2014
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating to transportation.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that Hawaii is very dependent on imported oil for its energy needs.  Encouraging different modes of transportation that use alternative energy can help to reduce oil dependency.  Although bicycles may currently be operated on various types of pathways, bicycles powered by means other than human power, such as an electric motor, are currently not allowed to be similarly operated.  Allowing electronic bicycles may result in increased usage of this means of transportation which can reduce dependency on foreign oil.

     SECTION 2.  Section 291C-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending the definition of "bicycle" to read as follows:

     ""Bicycle" means [every]:

(1) A vehicle propelled solely by human power upon which any person may ride, having two tandem wheels, and including any vehicle generally recognized as a bicycle though equipped with two front or two rear wheels except a toy bicycle[.]; or

(2) A two- or three-wheeled vehicle with fully operable pedals and an electric motor of less than seven hundred fifty watts or one horsepower, whose maximum speed on a paved level surface, when powered solely by such motor while ridden by a person who weighs one hundred seventy pounds, is less than twenty miles per hour."

     SECTION 3.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Transportation; Electric Bicycle; Bicycle

Description:

Amends the definition of "bicycle" to include a bicycle powered by an electric motor.

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.