We have now passed several key deadlines in this year’s 60-day legislative session, with just three weeks until the session ends on March 12. Things continue to move fast:
- WA Bikes priority bill HB2095 to increase accountability of drivers who hit people walking or biking is in the Senate, having passed the House.
- Two similar bills to define and clarify that e-motos aren’t e-bikes (HB2374 and ESB6110) passed both Chambers and are moving forward.
- In January, WA Bikes advocates attended Bike Day on the Hill to meet with their legislators and lobby in support of WA Bikes’ agenda.
Above: Bike Day on the Hill kicked off with a chilly bike ride around downtown Olympia, before heading to the Capitol steps.
Above: Bike advocates gather between meetings on a cold, foggy January morning.
Here’s a rundown of our 2026 legislative agenda:
Regulate E-Motos Posing as E-Bikes:
HB2734 and SB6100 aim to address electric motorcycles, or “e-motos,” posing as electric bikes and proliferating on our streets. Often marketed towards youth, e-motos are controlled by a throttle and powered by an electric motor, not pedals (although they often have fake or impractical pedals) and are capable of accelerating to speeds of 45 mph or more.
These unregulated e-motos are dangerous to their users and people bicycling and walking who must share streets, sidewalks, bike paths and bike lanes with them. We support the legal Class 1, Class 2, and Class 3 e-bikes. They make the joy of biking available to a much wider range of people. E-motos should not be conflated with these e-motos.
Both bills passed their chamber and now head to the opposite chamber. Sign in pro for ESB6110 here, ahead of its hearing on Thursday.
Protect Vulnerable Road Users:
HB2095 will increase accountability for people driving. It would update the existing Vulnerable Road User law to create a presumption of driver liability when crashing into vulnerable road users in bike lanes, crosswalks and sidewalks.
Aspects of life in the United States already involve a presumption of liability, such as rear-end collisions. Canada and European countries have a presumption of liability for drivers who crash into people walking and biking. The bill would also require training of law enforcement, judges and prosecutors about the laws pertaining to crashes with Vulnerable Road users.
HB2095 passed out of the House and will be heard in the Senate Law and Justice Committee on Monday. Sign in pro here.
Complete More Complete Streets:
SB5581 was introduced in 2025. The bill was amended this year after passing the Senate, and just returned for its second Senate committee hearing. The next step is for a vote out of committee.
If passed, the bill would enable the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to build more roundabouts that improve traffic safety, and articulate ways for WSDOT to complete its Complete Streets requirement outside of state rights of way in partnership with local agencies or tribes.
Fund the Promises in Move Ahead WA!
The legislature must pass a mid-biennium budget this session. With several policy deadlines behind us, budgets will shortly take center stage. The budget is often the final item passed in the session.
As budgets come out, we’ll be eagle-eyed for budget adjustments away from commitments made in the 2022 Move Ahead Washington legislation, which marked a historic investment in safer streets, a more bikeable state, and the creation of a Statewide School-Based Bicycle Safety Education Program.
Due to federal funding cuts and a state budget shortfall, we expect attempts to raid this critical safety funding to pay for other programs.
We’ll keep you abreast of the need for action in support of retaining funding so that we can keep building a bikeable Washington.
