Daylighting parking law draws thousands of tickets in San Diego; La Jolla among hardest hit

SAN DIEGO (FOX5/KUSI) — A new state parking law has triggered more than 13,000 citations in San Diego since enforcement began in March, with La Jolla and other neighborhoods among the hardest hit.

The “daylighting” law, which took effect Jan. 1, prohibits cars from parking within 20 feet of a crosswalk on the approach side. Supporters say the law improves visibility for drivers and pedestrians, reducing the chance of collisions.

“Daylighting law does not play a factor in how we staff our areas,” said Laird Tucker, senior parking enforcement supervisor with the San Diego Police Department. “Our areas are staffed based on the parking impacts in those areas.”

Tucker walked along Windansea Beach in La Jolla, where officers have issued a high number of citations. He said the difference between La Jolla and downtown San Diego comes down to infrastructure.

“Downtown is a different setup. Every intersection already had a lot of safety zones built in with red zones around every intersection prior to the daylighting law going into effect,” Tucker said.

Tucker said in neighborhoods like La Jolla, many curbs were not painted red before the law. That means drivers who were once parked legally are now subject to tickets.

City officials added that they have painted more than 1,000 curbs since the law took effect, but with about 16,000 intersections across San Diego, full implementation will take years.

“When cars are approaching an intersection, if there is a car parked directly up against a crosswalk, it’s going to make it harder for a vehicle to see any pedestrians stepping out into the crosswalk,” Tucker said. “When you remove a vehicle from being parked there, it improves visibility for the driver and the pedestrian attempting to cross the street.”

The city stressed that the daylighting law is statewide, not a San Diego ordinance.

We reached out to the city for questions and they responded in an email:

Question:
How does the City determine which neighborhoods or streets are most heavily patrolled under the daylighting law?

Answer:
The City doesn't specifically patrol for Daylighting Law offenses. Officer deployment is not influenced by the Daylighting law. Parking enforcement officers are not evenly distributed across the city, which naturally results in variation in the number of violations enforced in different areas.

Question:
Recent reporting shows that while downtown San Diego has more parking enforcement officers, it has fewer citations under the law. Can you explain why that’s the case? 

Answer:
The density of Downtown, it's gridded nature and the number of red curbs and pedestrian safety measures make it less likely that Daylighting offenses occur.