Council OKs new regs for commercial cyclists

City delivery people will soon have to adhere to tougher safety standards when they bike on the job.

The City Council passed four bills Thursday requiring businesses that use bike deliveries to train their employees on the rules of the road with a safety course, make them wear helmets and post those rules in their shops.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said restaurants are pressured to get their food to customers as quick as possible and as a result many pedestrians and the riders themselves have been hurt when they ride on the wrong way on the street or run red lights.

"Business owners are responsible for the safety of their employees and anyone else in the workplace. City streets become an extension of that workplace," she said in a statement.

Any business that doesn't comply with the new regulations will be hit with fines that will go up with each additional offense, with a maxium of $250..

A spokeswoman for Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who needs to OK the bills, said he supports the bills.