Cars parked too close to some San Francisco crosswalks will now get issued warnings
Starting Monday, the SFMTA will begin issuing warnings for vehicles that are parked within 20 feet of a crosswalk in the direction of approaching traffic.
This marks the beginning of the end of a grace period in place throughout the year for drivers to get up to speed with California's new "Daylighting Law," which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2024.
The law is similar to laws on the books in more than 40 other states. The purpose is to make it safer for pedestrians by increasing the visual field for both pedestrians crossing the street and for drivers pulling up to an intersection.
Starting Jan. 1, 2025, the SFMTA will begin issuing citations for people who do not follow the law. The citations will begin at $40, per the SFMTA.
Jodie Medeiros, the executive director of Walk SF, provided CBS News Bay Area with the following statement:
Given how many people are being hurt and killed on our streets in traffic crashes, every possible solution to protect people is needed – and daylighting is a powerful one.
Daylighting is one of the cheapest and easiest solutions for making streets significantly safer, reducing traffic crashes by up to 30%. This new law will save lives in San Francisco and improve safety for everyone who uses the roads, including drivers.
Daylighting doesn't just help protect people crossing the street, but helps drivers in being able to make safe turns in the face of oncoming traffic.
Vehicles keep getting larger, heavier, and more powerful, which means every possible solution is needed to help prevent traffic crashes – and keep people safe in the crosswalk.
Education is an important step in the city's compliance with AB 413, a lifesaving state law that prevents parking around the intersection to give clear sight-lines for everyone. This commonsense law has been on the books in 40 other states for decades.
Many drivers don't know about this new California law yet, and how important abiding by it is for everyone's safety. But more than education is needed, the SFMTA must add red 'no parking' paint as well as posts to make sure drivers know and respect this lifesaving law. Other neighboring cities in the Bay Area – Oakland and Alameda – do a great job at demonstrating how daylighting can be done with paint and posts.
Daylighting saves lives. This new state law is a needed step toward reducing the number of tragedies on our streets. San Francisco has experienced 21 pedestrian deaths so far this year. We don't need another life cut short to see how much solutions like daylighting are needed everywhere.
Some people have concerns about what this will mean for parking spots in San Francisco neighborhoods, especially in areas where parking already comes at a premium.
"We need more parking spaces, we need more business. If they take away parking spaces, that means we are losing business," said Ed Siu, the Chairman of the Chinatown Merchants United Association.
Siu has a lot of questions about how this will work and the impact it may have on his neighborhood. He said he's frustrated SFMTA outreach didn't begin sooner than it did.
"They had a whole year to tell us what they're going to do and how they're going to do it," he said. "Right now, we are unclear about all of the circumstances of it."
Some curbs are already painted red, prohibiting parking close to a crosswalk. But under the new law, drivers will be on the hook for parking within 20 feet of the crosswalk even if the curb isn't painted red. Siu said he'd like to see the SFMTA paint the curbs red so the rules are clear.
