Nancy Gruskin Launches Delivery Cyclist Safety Campaign

Nancy Gruskin, who founded the Stuart C. Gruskin Family Foundation after her husband was killed by a cyclist in Midtown two years ago, launched a new campaign to educate delivery cyclists about the rules of the road this morning. The “5 to Ride” campaign will ask restaurants to pledge to teach their delivery cyclists five basic rules, grouped in this mnemonic order:

• Put Pedestrians first
• Stop at Every red
• Ride in the right Direction — with traffic
• Stay on the Asphalt, off the sidewalk
• Pick a Lane, and stick with it (This one is intended to encourage cyclists not to weave between cars.)

Gruskin has focused her organizing on Tribeca to start with and has signed up more than 40 restaurants so far. Participating businesses get a decal to put in their window and pins for their working cyclists advertising their commitment to safe cycling. “The public can vote with their wallets,” said Gruskin.

Gruskin was joined by Bike New York’s education programs director Rich Conroy and City Council Transportation Committee Chair James Vacca. “It’s imperative that all cyclists, whether riding for commuting, work or fun, know and follow the rules of the road,” said Conroy. “More resources should be available for commercial cyclists.” Bike New York will work with the Gruskin Foundation to provide additional safety training for restaurants that request it.

Vacca focused his remarks on the importance of education and safe behavior. “Whether you’re on two wheels or on four wheels, you have to be part of the solution, not part of the problem,” he said. When Streetsblog asked him after the event about possible engineering solutions to improve bike-pedestrian relations, he said that any design had to be site-specific and turned the conversation back to the pledge campaign.