Parking in San Francisco is just about to be more difficult. Because of new rules, many people will find tickets on their windshields in the coming months.
The New “Daylighting” Law
California recently enacted a new law requiring its cities to improve the lighting for the benefit of pedestrians. This is known as “daylighting.” The rules state that motorists may not park their vehicles within 20 feet of a crosswalk whether it is marked or not.
The law was actually created for the safety of pedestrians and drivers. Jodie Medeiros, director of Walk San Francisco, stated that this rule gives motorists clear sight lines so that the driver can easily see pedestrians on the sidewalks. She said that many other cities and states used daylighting as a way to make their streets safer for pedestrians and that it had the effect they were hoping it would have; daylighting has saved lives.
Starting on November 11, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency started to enforce this new law vigorously. Daylighting will allow pedestrians and motorists to see each other better because vehicles will no longer be obstructed in intersections. Therefore, if anyone breaks this rule and parks too close to an intersection, he or she will receive a warning. On January 1, 2025, the agency will begin to issue $40 fines to offenders. Officials acknowledge the fact that there will be approximately 14,000 fewer parking spaces in the city, but they believe the trade-off is worth it if it promotes safety.
The rule is great for pedestrians because of fewer obstructions to their line of sight. For example, they will not have to step into the intersection so that they can look past parked cars to see if it is safe to cross. This is even better for children because they are smaller and less visible to motorists.
Just a Few Disagreements
Not everyone believes that daylighting rules are enough, but Michael Roccaforte, spokesman for SFMTA, stated that the city cannot afford to paint every corner that would need it. On top of that, every corner would need to be repainted every five years, and this is just not feasible. This type of project would also require significant maintenance.
Not everyone is happy with the new regulations and have complained about the prospect of searching for a parking space taking longer than it already does. Other residents are happy to live with a little inconvenience if it means that pedestrians will be safer.
Creating a Safer City
At any rate, the most dangerous intersections have already been painted red. According to Erica Kato with SFMTA, these were painted to fulfill the requirements of other projects and not necessarily because of California’s law. She advised drivers that they could estimate where they should stop by leaving enough space for a full-size pickup truck.
In 2024, 25 people lost their lives in traffic collisions in San Francisco, and 17 of these fatalities were pedestrians. In fact, there were more than 11,000 pedestrian injuries and fatalities across the state in 2022. This fact causes some people to say that the new rules are worth the trouble. Walk San Francisco is one of them, and they state that daylighting is the reason that traffic accidents went down by 30%. When daylighting is done correctly, it saves lives and reduces the close calls that often occur on the roads.
