By Kate Williams / The Point PLNU / Feb 5, 2025
California’s State Assembly Bill 413, a measure that prohibits cars from stopping, standing or parking within 20 feet of both red and unmarked intersections, went into effect Jan 1.
The Daylighting Parking Law’s goal is to give drivers and pedestrians more visibility around crosswalks.
Alex Irving, a second-year communications major at PLNU, commutes to Marine Physical Training in Mission Bay twice a week. She experienced difficulty turning when cars were parked right along the intersection, blocking the view.
“There have been many times when I’ve had trouble taking a right turn because there’s a car in the way and it’s a tight road,” Irving said. “I see how the law was made to help pedestrians, and I think it will help prevent small accidents when turning in intersections.”
According to 2022 data from Sandag’s Traffic Safety Dashboard, 44% of San Diego’s collision-related injuries happened at intersections. Improper turns were a major culprit.
Sara DelGiudice, a fourth-year psychology major commuter, lives in the Point Loma area and found the law beneficial for navigating narrow roads in the neighborhood.
“In terms of safety, I think this law would allow drivers to feel less anxious about hitting someone from lack of visibility, which can likely reduce stress levels while driving,” DelGiudice said.
However, DelGiudice said she recognizes the possible consequences of limiting parking, especially in crowded areas like Ocean Beach and Downtown San Diego.
“Many people rely on street parking to go to stores or even to leave their car in front of their house,” she said. “By reducing the number of allotted spaces, citizens are left to search for even fewer open spots, and conflicts may arise because of it. Some people in San Diego get so aggressive over driving and parking.”
Vanessa Venegas, a second-year English education major, drives to Better Buzz, North Park and Sports Arena from PLNU’s main campus several times a week. She said that she thinks other drivers may not follow the law, not only because they might not know about it, but because not every curb is painted red.
“They should paint the sidewalk red so that people know they can’t park there,” Venegas said.
DelGiudice shared Venegas’ opinion that the city should prioritize marking these new off-limits parking spots.
“I also think it is unfair to uphold this law if there are no signs or indicators that you can not park in certain places by intersections. Many people probably won’t even have heard about this law and will receive a ticket for something that is not explicitly indicated on the street,” DelGiudice said.
Graphic depicting the 20-foot buffer zone in an intersection courtesy of the City of San Diego.
The City of San Diego did not plan to invest the resources to paint every curb in all urban and suburban areas. However, efforts to paint curbs in busy and densely populated areas were made, according to the city’s daylighting webpage.
To help San Diegans with the transition, the city implemented a grace period from Jan. 1 to March 1, so people parking illegally will receive only warnings for the first 60 days of the year.
Once ticketing starts on March 1, tickets will match the current cost of parking at a red curb: $77.50.
“There have been many times when I’ve had trouble taking a right turn because there’s a car in the way and it’s a tight road. ” Huh?! Wow. We’re dumping cars on the road with ADU’s while allowing pedestrians to cross anywhere if it’s safe( a judgement call ) , and then quote a second-year English education major, who drives to Better Buzz, North Park and Sports Arena from PLNU’s main campus several times a week? To paint all curbs? Hello, kitty, ignorance is not an excuse when interpreting the law.
It’s a bad law to begin with.
I understand the logic. In my OB neighborhood, parking is in very short supply and people park literally at or sometimes on the corner making it very difficult to see pedestrians or approaching cars, particularly when it is a large pick-up or SUV.
That being said, I fear that this is just going to be a revenue generation device for the City. In the beach areas, in particular, there simply is not enough on- or off-street parking. I can envision the city sending out a fleet of code enforcement officers to blitz a neighborhood for daylighting infractions just to make some money!
By the way, I’ve said this before but I’m not sure how much of a success Vision Zero is going to be. I’ve read that pedestrian involved traffic accidents are not going down despite the amount of time and money the city has dedicated to “improvements.” And, while I was in Norway this lat year (Norway has been one of the most enthusiastic endorsers of Vision Zero), there was a news report that pedestrian fatalities were increasing in Oslo. I couldn’t get the details as my Norwegian language skills are pretty much non-existent.
Absolutely a revenue device, 100%. The city is looking for stealth revenue via parking meters, raising fees, etc. The mayor and council are looking for revenues over cuts.
City finance officials shared in a mid-year budget report that the city is roughly $20 million behind in revenue and roughly $5 million ahead in spending in its current year’s budget.
Michael Zucchet, the general manager for the city employee’s union, shared the other revelation. He told councilmembers at the meeting that the city’s hiring freeze has not been implemented as planned. He said that the city has continued hiring across several categories, but especially among managerial positions in the past several months.
https://voiceofsandiego.org/2025/02/05/councilmembers-blast-mayor-on-lack-of-budget-management/
I’m not too worried about parking enforcement. There are 3 boats, 2 abandoned vehicles, long term car parkers and of course all the residents who park 2;3; cars on the street in my south OB neighborhood instead of their off street parking. Parking enforcement and code enforcement is exactly what we need. The city spent a fortune on new parking enforcement SUV’s. Let’s start giving out more parking tickets with enforcement of all vehicle codes including traffic enforcement. Yes the city needs the revenue. More neighborhood code enforcement is needed but doesn’t exist. Write the ticket.
That’s great for you, but where I live there simply is not enough of any kind of parking, either on- or off-street. We have three vehicles and one off street space. My neighbors directly across the street have two vehicles and one unusable off-street space. The family next to them has two vehicles and no off street space. I could go on and on, but this is pretty much the pattern for a lot of OB.
What is also concerning is that I know I cannot accurately determine what is 20 feet v. 19 or 18 feet. Are parking enforcers going to carry tape measures and make sure that any vehicle is definitely within the 20 foot prohibited area? And please someone explain to me where the 20 feet will be measured from, especially give that the handicapped ramps have a very rounded corner.
I ran into the measurement problem with the wheel crimping being required on streets with a slope greater than 2%. Using the city’s GIS system and a simple device used for measuring slopes I have used throughout my career I determined that the slope of my street is exactly 2.0%. The city’s code enforcement disagreed, but offered no proof of their slope measurement – “they just knew from experience.” The parking administrator just said the burden of proof was on me. I can see the same sort of arguments regarding the exact limits where the 20 foot line is located.
Why are you all blaming the city? This is a California state law. There are many time where I can’t see around the corner when trying to enter traffic. I understand the parking situation is horrific also. Also, how will this effect the restaurants who have migrated onto the streets, like the Raglan on Bacon street. I haven’t measured but they certainly appear closer than 20 feet. Put together, there is no perfect answer.
Well the parking situation is worse from the city ADU regs that dump cars onto the streets with no onsite parking. If the city can circumvent the state law on ADU’s, then what’s the excuse for going along with the state regs on daylighting? You’re at the point in some places where cars line the streets and trash cans are in the road. How stupid can this all get?
The Stupity Quotient seems to be very high in city hall.
Look at the problems on University Avenue where the improvements have been stalled because of a previously unknown(?!) SDG&E utility vault that has disrupted construction and requires a work around. Just like the hotel component of Midway Rising getting axed because of an unknown sewer tunnel and the pump station in Mission Valley that gets flooded (maybe because it’s in the river?), it seems like the most obvious things trip up our fair city.
When I was still working it was imperative that you look for any encumbrances (easements, licenses, utility structures, etc.) before you start to design a major capital improvement project.
The city supported passage of the law as did every San Diego County senator and Assembly person. Had the city opposed it, they might have some cred, but they did not.
I support this new law. By giving drivers more visibility around crosswalks, this law will undoubtedly prevent accidents caused by improper turns at intersections. I can attest to the challenges posed by parking right up to intersections, which often leaves me with limited sightlines and increased anxiety when making turns. The new law promises to improve visibility and safety, and I am fully in favor of it.
However, while the parking law is a step in the right direction, I cannot help but express frustration with the Governor’s recent policy on pedestrians. Allowing pedestrians to cross wherever they wish, without any clear enforcement or regulation, creates a dangerous free-for-all that undermines the very safety efforts intended by measures like AB 413.
Crosswalks exist for a reason, and it is simply irresponsible to allow pedestrians to disregard these boundaries. The Governor’s stance is an open invitation to chaos on our streets, particularly at the very intersections that this new law aims to protect. If we want to make our roads safer, pedestrian behavior must be governed by clear rules, not treated as an afterthought.
Moreover, I am deeply disappointed in the mayor’s decisions regarding parking and bike lanes. In a city where finding parking is already a daily challenge, the removal of widely-used parking spaces in favor of bike lanes that serve a minority of the population only adds to the chaos and confusion. While I am not opposed to promoting biking, the reality is that bike lanes are simply not being utilized by enough people to justify taking away parking spaces or traffic lanes that are essential for daily life. Removing parking in busy areas like Ocean Beach, North Park, and Downtown not only exacerbates the parking crisis but also contributes to rising frustration among residents who are left without the essential resources they need to go about their lives. It seems clear that the mayor’s decisions are prioritizing a niche group at the expense of the broader community.
I live in District six. I find it difficult, nigh impossible, to get any support from my local councilman (Kent Lee), the Mayor (Todd Gloria), or anyone else in city government for things like parking enforcement, street repair/resurfacing, etc. All I get told is to “report the issue on Get it done app”. I do, the issues do not get resolved. As far as I am concerned, the city government, as well as the state government, is broken and beyond repair. People wonder how fascists get elected…. this is how! The people that are supposed to be helping the public are not, so the public seeks a remedy, although misguided.