In a city where the amount of available parking seems to be shrinking for a variety of reasons — a growing population, the addition of bike lanes, the elimination of driveways, for example — the enforcement of the state's daylighting law beginning on Jan. 1 has some residents concerned.
Next week, San Diego — and the rest of California — is permitted by state law to begin putting teeth into a state law designed to protect people crossing the street in heavily traveled intersections, which will affect the number of available parking spaces throughout the city.
New laws in 2025
"Currently jurisdictions can only issue a warning for a violation and are prohibited from issuing citations unless the violation occurs in an area marked using paint or a sign," according to the city's website on daylighting.
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That might no longer be the case starting next Wednesday, though a "60-day grace period [when warnings may be issued] will be in effect starting Jan. 1, 2025, until March 1, 2025."
California’s AB413 — which was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Oct. 10, 2023 — is nicknamed the "daylighting" law because vision is better in the daylight. It prohibits both personal and commercial vehicles from parking or stopping within 20 feet of any marked or unmarked crosswalk anywhere in the state. The law applies to curbs whether they’re painted red or not.
"... as a practical matter, not all city curbs will be able to be marked," the city states on its website.
In some cases, the new law could theoretically eliminate as many as four parking spots on each block. In many neighborhoods, however, there are red curbs painted at the corners already, and, in some cases, the expansion of that zone would not have much an effect on available parking.
The no-parking zones actually begin past the corner and through the adjoining parking lane, as can be seen below in an illustration posted on a city website explaining the new rules. In such cases, if that distance is taken into account along with the actual corner and what has already been painted red, the "daylighting zone" would only extend the no-parking area by a matter of a few or half-dozen feet.
The city of San Diego started red-striping more neighborhoods a few weeks ago; other cities in the county are moving at their own pace with their own implementation plan.
But the motivation to improve the range of vision for drivers is the same.
“It’s necessary because we’ve seen an increase in pedestrian deaths over the past 10 years," said Jeremy Bloom, Interim CEO of Circulate San Diego. "Part of that is because of larger car sizes and speed. So, this is just a way to save lives."
The cost for violations will depend on the jurisdiction where the vehicle is blocking the crosswalk.
