A new state law will prohibit parking within 20 feet of intersections with marked or unmarked crosswalks.
The practice is called “daylighting” because it increases visibility at crosswalks.
The state law will go into effect on Jan. 1. Over the next two months, the city of San Diego will issue warnings to drivers who violate the new parking law. It will start issuing $77.50 citations starting in March.
Drivers will have to stay extra vigilant. San Diego has more than 16,000 impacted intersections, but so far the city has only installed updated signs or painted curbs at approximately 100 locations. The new state law allows enforcement even if an intersection lacks warning signs or red curbs.
“The City's Transportation Department will continue to evaluate and paint red curbs citywide to guide parking behavior and support understanding of this new law,” said city spokesperson Anthony Santacroce in an email. “The evaluations and implementation of curbs and red curbs require significant employee resources to implement.”
Some of the city’s impacted intersections might have existing red curbs that cover at least part of the new no-parking zones. But Santacroce said many intersections do not.
For reference, drivers can keep in mind that 20 feet is about one-and-a-half car lengths.
“The goals of the law are to reduce traffic injuries and fatalities and crashes with pedestrians and cars,” said Will Moore, policy counsel at the transportation nonprofit Circulate San Diego.
California, he added, is playing catchup. Dozens of other states already have daylighting laws on the books.
“California decided it needed to come in line with the rest of the country because California’s traffic fatalities are 25% higher than the rest of the country,” he said.
