Delivery Dangers
New law would shift burden to businesses
By Aline Reynolds
Posted by Our Town on October 7, 2009 · View Comments
New York City business owners who use bicycle delivery, beware: you may soon have to pay up when your delivery workers break the law.
Until now, commercial cyclists have been fined $100 to $250 for infractions like speeding, running red lights or riding on sidewalks. A new law would shift the fine from delivery personnel to employers.
“By putting the onus for penalties on the businesses that employ delivery riders, we give the businesses extra incentive to ensure that their employees are being responsible on the road,” said Council Member Jessica Lappin, the bill’s sponsor.
Teri Slater, chair of the E. 78th Street Block Association Park/Lex, voiced her support of the legislation during a Sept. 30 bike forum convened by Community Board 8’s Transportation Committee.
Bike safety was the topic of a recent Community Board 8 forum. Photo by Andrew Schwartz
“If business owners realize they are going to get a ticket for the employees breaking the law, they might take an extra step and have them go around the block,” she said. “It only takes a couple of minutes more.”
A hearing on the bill is scheduled for Oct. 8 at City Hall, and Board 8 is expected to weigh in at its Oct. 21 full board meeting.
The proposed legislation and other bike issues were discussed by the forum’s panelists, who included Lappin, fellow East Side Council Member Daniel Garodnick, a spokesperson for the Department of Transportation and Inspector James Murtagh, commanding officer of the 19th Precinct.
Many attendees complained that punishment of bike violations seems to have grown lax in recent years. During the 1980s, law enforcement used to come down hard on cyclists, said Bette Dewing, a longtime advocate for bike and pedestrian safety and a columnist for this paper.
“People weren’t used to lawlessness, and they have become more and more accustomed to it,” she said.
Upper East Sider Roger Herz, who has been biking since the 1966 transit strike, thinks police treat dangerous bike behavior frivolously.
“The number of summonses and arrests for really dangerous [bike] speeding is inadequate,” he said.
But there has been a renewed focus on bike safety from lawmakers. In 2007, the mayor signed into law one of Garodnick’s bills, which forced restaurants to post signs listing traffic laws for delivery personnel. This past August, Garodnick introduced a bill that would create a public database of businesses that use delivery bikes with a corresponding list of their traffic violations. This would enable community members to boycott eateries that are not complying with the law. The bill is awaiting a hearing.
“When customers are empowered with this information, they will be able to avoid the bad actors and reward the good ones with repeat business,” Garodnick said.
Panelists also discussed the idea of adding more bike lanes, though some pointed out that might result in increased congestion and pedestrian danger on narrower avenues, like Lexington and Madison. Others suggested that like drivers, bikers should have to obtain licenses and register their vehicles.
Caroline Samponaro, director of bicycle advocacy at Transportation Alternatives, a nonprofit that supports biking, walking and public transit, also attended the forum. Though not part of the panel, she discussed a campaign the group recently launched that asks city businesses to sign pledges to enforce bike safety rules. In turn, Transportation Alternatives will distribute posters that pro-safety businesses can display on their windows.
