Oregon Bicycle Equipment Law: The Basics

Oregon Law—The Basics:

• Bicycles must be equipped with a brake.¹
• It is illegal to equip bicycles with sirens or whistles.²
• Bicycles must be equipped with lights during limited visibility conditions.³

Oregon Law—Going Deeper:

In the United States, equipment requirements for bicycles are established by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC”), which regulates what safety and equipment standards a new bicycle must meet to be sold in the United States.⁴ Although the CPSC regulations generally only apply to new bicycles available for sale, the CPSC performance standard for brakes has been adopted by the Uniform Vehicle Code,⁵ and in turn, by Oregon law.⁶ With all of this in mind, here’s what you need to know about these equipment regulations in general, and how they relate to Oregon law:

1. CPSC regulations only apply to new bicycles sold in the United States.
2. You are not violating any CPSC regulations or Oregon law (generally) if you strip equipment off your bike or swap out one part for a different part.
3. You are not violating any CPSC regulations or Oregon law if you sell a used bike that is missing CPSC-mandated equipment.
4. CPSC-mandated requirements do not include bicycle lights, which are nevertheless required in Oregon under certain conditions.
5. CPSC-mandated requirements do not include audible warning devices, and Oregon law does not require these either.
6. Oregon law does not prohibit you from adding additional equipment to your bike, even if it is not required by CPSC regulations or Oregon law.⁷

Violations:

Bicycle equipment violations are a Class D traffic violation,⁸ which carries a $115 presumptive fine.⁹

Related Article:

• How to Handle a Traffic Ticket

See Also:

Now that we’ve looked at the basics, let’s take a look at the specific bicycle equipment laws for Oregon:

• Oregon Bicycle Equipment Law: Brakes
• Oregon Bicycle Equipment Law: Audible Warning Devices
• Oregon Bicycle Equipment Law: Lights & Reflectors