Oregon Introduces House Bill 4063 to Legalize Kei Car Registration

In June of 2025, Oregon looked to be the next state to legalize the registration of kei vehicles for road use. Unfortunately, the bill was scrapped in favor of an amendment to a House bill that ultimately failed. While that battle was lost, lawmakers said they’d come back and try again in 2026, and that’s about to happen.

House Bill 4063: Making Kei Trucks Road Legal in Oregon

Today, the text of House Bill 4063 has debuted. It’s pretty much a redo of the language from the 2025 bill.

This bill’s digest states, “The Act makes laws about Kei trucks. Allows a person to title and register a Kei truck in Oregon. Amends and creates laws related to allowing Kei trucks to operate on highways in Oregon. Creates the offense of unlawfully operating a Kei truck on a highway. Punishes by a maximum fine of $1,000.”

Kei ‘Trucks’ Also Will Likely Mean Kei ‘Cars’

Once again, lawmakers are sticking with the term “trucks” with regard to kei vehicles. Again, the word “truck” should likely include all kei vehicles, as there’s nothing to define a truck, car, SUV, or van bodystyle. The language in section 2 of the bill defines a “kei truck” as:

“Kei truck” means a motor vehicle that:

(1) Was originally manufactured in Japan or South Korea;
(2) Has an engine that has a piston or rotor displacement of 660 cubic centimeters;
(3) Is 11 feet or less in length;
(4) Is 4.9 feeet or less in width;
(5) Is 6.6 feet or less in height; and
(6) Has a model year that predates the current year by 25 years or more.

So basically, it clears any kei vehicle 25 years or older to be registered for road use.

One Minor Caveat: Speed Limits

And, just like back in June of 2025, there is one stipulation to HB 4063: speed limits. Section 8 of the bill explicitly states:

(1) A person commits the offense of unlawfully operating a Kei truck on a highway if the person operates a Kei truck on a highway that has a speed limit or posted speed that is greater than 65 miles per hour.
(2) The offense described in this section, unlawfully operating a Kei truck on a highway, is a Class B traffic violation.

Assuming House Bill 4063 passes, you can’t take a kei vehicle on a highway that is greater than 65 MPH. Luckily for Oregonians, there aren’t many places other than some stretches of Interstate with speed limits higher than that. The exceptions are Interstate 80 from The Dalles to Ontario, and US Highway 95 from Ontario to the Nevada border. Frankly, I think most people will be OK with this as a concession.

Bipartisan Support

While the kei bill didn’t pass in 2025, it has exceptional bipartisan support. That shouldn’t have changed for 2026. In fact, it now has a better chance of passing. Additionally, this won’t be a part of any other transportation package, which was a sticking point in 2025. Many lawmakers seem to understand kei vehicles are more affordable than full-size trucks, they’re fuel-efficient, and don’t take up much space. Plus, they’re great for farmers, ranchers, and small business owners looking to get jobs done while not having to spend the money on a big, new truck.

The Oregon State Legislature’s 35-day “short session” begins February 2 and must end no later than March 8, so we might know whether this passes in Q1 of this year. The best thing you can do to show support for this as Oregonians is to contact your local representatives and let them know you want House Bill 4063 to pass because you’d like kei trucks to be legal on Oregon roads, and explain why.

This still isn’t a guaranteed thing; few things in politics are. But this bill seems to have a better shot than in 2025, so our fingers are crossed.