Saturday, July 14, 2012

Growing Pains: New York Going After Unsafe Delivery Cyclists

They churn their legs against the traffic, dart between sidewalk-clogging pedestrians, and, according to city officials, pay only occasional mind to the signs and signals that govern the streets. A food deliveryman riding the wrong direction down Columbus Avenue on Friday in Manhattan. A city campaign is seeking to curb such traffic violations. Deliverymen from Lenny’s restaurant listening to a news conference on the city’s new initiative for bicycle delivery safety. But some of the delivery cyclists who run afoul of the law do so with a quintessential New York City goal: making sure the hot food in their bags remains that way. Beginning next week, a six-person team of department inspectors will patrol, door to door, across the Upper West Side, providing information to businesses about commercial cycling laws. The plan is expected to extend into other areas of the city, and by early 2013, businesses that continue to violate the laws may receive fines of up to $300, the agency said. “New Yorkers want everything in a New York minute,” said Janette Sadik-Khan, the city’s transportation commissioner. “But businesses that depend on bike deliveries can’t cut corners on safety.” Read More in NYT

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