The Bend Park & Recreation District and the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department are considering giving e-bikes more freedom to roam their parks. It’s worth considering, but they should be ready to pull the plug if things go badly.

E-bikes, or electric bicycles, can be a perfect way to go to and fro. They make commuting less sweaty than a conventional bike, and any hill requires a lot less pedaling.

Under Oregon law, e-bikes are those with electric motors of less than 1,000 watts and go no more than 20 miles per hour. They are not considered bikes. Try to ride them along a trail designed for people or bikes in a Bend park or a state park and expect trouble. They are prohibited on Forest Service trails.

Bend’s park board briefly discussed what to do about e-bikes at Tuesday’s meeting. The district’s policy is no motorized vehicles on its trails — and that means no e-bikes.

Don Horton, the district’s executive director, told us the board is “considering the use of e-bikes on certain trails or that the e-bikes be human powered like all other bikes when using district trails.” He said one issue is looking at what other agencies do and minimizing confusion for the public with different rules in different settings.

The Oregon parks department is asking for public input on a possible change in its policy. E-bikes are not allowed on state park-managed roads or trails. The department is asking for flexibility to allow e-bikes in certain places — “on trails and roads that are eight feet or wider, and along select areas of the ocean shore.”

The argument against changing the rules for e-bikes is basically that they are motorized. That’s true, although most models require some pedaling. And on a paved trail in a city or state park, they don’t behave all that differently than a regular bike. In Bend, cutting through parks or using district trails can be a much safer way to get across town than riding in traffic. It’s a good idea to test if they can be used on some trails without causing problems.