Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Use San Diego crosswalks at your own peril

But new state law clearing nearby parking might backfire

Starting New Year's Eve, new statewide law aims to clear crosswalks of parked vehicles. - Image by S. Hilt
Starting New Year's Eve, new statewide law aims to clear crosswalks of parked vehicles.

As San Diego drivers rush to finish shopping or get to their next destination,  accidents or close calls at crosswalks crop up.

On December 23, at around 7:30 am, an electric scooter rider was struck while traveling through a downtown crosswalk, according to a report by 911 Video News on YouTube. The details surrounding the accident on 5th Avenue and A Street remain unclear, including who had the right-of-way and whether the rider survived after being rushed to the hospital.

Accident on 5th and A


On December 13, a 45-year-old man suffered a fractured skull and was hospitalized after being struck while walking in a crosswalk in Logan Heights, according to the San Diego Police Department. In October, another pedestrian was reportedly struck and killed while using a marked crosswalk in Clairemont.

Starting on New Year's Eve, a new statewide law aims to  implement "daylighting" — clearing crosswalks of parked vehicles and bettering the vantage points for drivers and pedestrians.

Parking spaces lost


Under California Assembly Bill AB-413, parking, stopping, or waiting within 20 feet of the approach to any crosswalk — marked or unmarked — will be prohibited. Notably, the curb doesn’t need to be painted red for the law to apply, nor does the crosswalk need to be marked.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Ride-share drivers idling near crosswalks are included in this rule.

Steve Johnson parks his car by a crosswalk in the Skyline neighborhood when he can. "I don't like this new rule, he said. "If I lose my favorite spot, I'm going to be bummed because it's one of the only spaces open when I come home from work and I can see the car from my room." Johnson thinks of Lyft and Uber gig workers. "How will the drivers pick us up in the Gaslamp District with the new regulation? Honestly, I'd rather the drivers pull up to the side before a crosswalk rather than stop in the middle of the road?"

Spaces lost between the 15 and 805 south of I-8


Some San Diegans who signed the "Repeal AB-413 Twenty Foot Parking Loss at Every Intersection" petition on Change.org share Johnson's sentiments. They mention people without cars, who depend on delivery services from Instacart, DoorDash, Uber Eats, or Amazon, and how the gig workers will face more profound challenges in 2025. 

The new bill "impacts air quality due to added pollution as drivers circle, possibly fruitlessly in competition for previously existing but now nonexistent parking," reads the petition with 1900 signatures and counting.

The new crosswalk law will affect street parking, particularly in bustling neighborhoods like Normal Heights. “Approximately 350 locations will be affected,” reads a social media post in part by the Normal Heights Community Planning Group.

Jay L. from Clairemont has a unique feeling about the new "daylighting" rule. "Like if the corner appears to be clear, those who are chronic speeders will use this additional clearance to carve corners faster!” On the flip side, he noted that parked cars near crosswalks currently force drivers to slow down. “Both by decreased corner radius and concern for peds.”

Parking enforcement will have challenges and more work, as not all crosswalk corners will be painted red when the law takes effect. RogueSpectre67, on Reddit, commented, “I would guess that this is almost as much about giving the cops something to nail people for as it is about ‘public safety.’ You know for a fact that they’re going to love busting out the special 20-foot tape measure they had specifically for this purpose, lining up a laser level on your front bumper, and gleefully writing tickets when the paint chip on your car extends a thousandth of an inch into the unmarked no-parking zone.”

The city of San Diego — not the whole county — made $32.1 million through parking tickets last year, according to the Quartz business-news outlet in a recently published article titled, "15 cities that make more money from parking tickets than anywhere in America."

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

East San Diego County has only one bike lane

So you can get out of town – from Santee to Tierrasanta
Next Article

Live Five: Rebecca Jade, Stoney B. Blues, Manzanita Blues, Blame Betty, Marujah

Holiday music, blues, rockabilly, and record releases in Carlsbad, San Carlos, Little Italy, downtown
Starting New Year's Eve, new statewide law aims to clear crosswalks of parked vehicles. - Image by S. Hilt
Starting New Year's Eve, new statewide law aims to clear crosswalks of parked vehicles.

As San Diego drivers rush to finish shopping or get to their next destination,  accidents or close calls at crosswalks crop up.

On December 23, at around 7:30 am, an electric scooter rider was struck while traveling through a downtown crosswalk, according to a report by 911 Video News on YouTube. The details surrounding the accident on 5th Avenue and A Street remain unclear, including who had the right-of-way and whether the rider survived after being rushed to the hospital.

Accident on 5th and A


On December 13, a 45-year-old man suffered a fractured skull and was hospitalized after being struck while walking in a crosswalk in Logan Heights, according to the San Diego Police Department. In October, another pedestrian was reportedly struck and killed while using a marked crosswalk in Clairemont.

Starting on New Year's Eve, a new statewide law aims to  implement "daylighting" — clearing crosswalks of parked vehicles and bettering the vantage points for drivers and pedestrians.

Parking spaces lost


Under California Assembly Bill AB-413, parking, stopping, or waiting within 20 feet of the approach to any crosswalk — marked or unmarked — will be prohibited. Notably, the curb doesn’t need to be painted red for the law to apply, nor does the crosswalk need to be marked.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Ride-share drivers idling near crosswalks are included in this rule.

Steve Johnson parks his car by a crosswalk in the Skyline neighborhood when he can. "I don't like this new rule, he said. "If I lose my favorite spot, I'm going to be bummed because it's one of the only spaces open when I come home from work and I can see the car from my room." Johnson thinks of Lyft and Uber gig workers. "How will the drivers pick us up in the Gaslamp District with the new regulation? Honestly, I'd rather the drivers pull up to the side before a crosswalk rather than stop in the middle of the road?"

Spaces lost between the 15 and 805 south of I-8


Some San Diegans who signed the "Repeal AB-413 Twenty Foot Parking Loss at Every Intersection" petition on Change.org share Johnson's sentiments. They mention people without cars, who depend on delivery services from Instacart, DoorDash, Uber Eats, or Amazon, and how the gig workers will face more profound challenges in 2025. 

The new bill "impacts air quality due to added pollution as drivers circle, possibly fruitlessly in competition for previously existing but now nonexistent parking," reads the petition with 1900 signatures and counting.

The new crosswalk law will affect street parking, particularly in bustling neighborhoods like Normal Heights. “Approximately 350 locations will be affected,” reads a social media post in part by the Normal Heights Community Planning Group.

Jay L. from Clairemont has a unique feeling about the new "daylighting" rule. "Like if the corner appears to be clear, those who are chronic speeders will use this additional clearance to carve corners faster!” On the flip side, he noted that parked cars near crosswalks currently force drivers to slow down. “Both by decreased corner radius and concern for peds.”

Parking enforcement will have challenges and more work, as not all crosswalk corners will be painted red when the law takes effect. RogueSpectre67, on Reddit, commented, “I would guess that this is almost as much about giving the cops something to nail people for as it is about ‘public safety.’ You know for a fact that they’re going to love busting out the special 20-foot tape measure they had specifically for this purpose, lining up a laser level on your front bumper, and gleefully writing tickets when the paint chip on your car extends a thousandth of an inch into the unmarked no-parking zone.”

The city of San Diego — not the whole county — made $32.1 million through parking tickets last year, according to the Quartz business-news outlet in a recently published article titled, "15 cities that make more money from parking tickets than anywhere in America."

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Reader writer Chris Ahrens tells the story of Windansea

The shack is a landmark declaring, “The best break in the area is out there.”
Next Article

Kumeay near Rosarito befriended Kumeay on reservation near Boulevard

Called into principal's office for long braid
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader