California Daylighting Law – What is it and why has it been introduced?

The government of California is enforcing a new safety Law known as “daylighting.”To increase visibility for both cars and pedestrians, a new California rule seeks to restrict the proximity at which vehicles can park near crosswalks.

California Daylighting Law

Parking close to crosswalks will be forbidden by new California legislation. The goal of the law is to increase visibility so that people walking and driving can see one another more clearly. The practice known as “daylighting” is becoming more and more common as a means of enhancing pedestrian safety.

A new regulation in effect in California requires cars to review their parking location twice a year as there is now a no-parking zone around both designated and invisible pedestrian crosswalks.

Among other forbidden parking locations, drivers are generally not permitted to leave their cars parked in the center of an intersection, on a sidewalk, in front of designated curbs, in a way that obstructs the access to fire hydrants, or excessively close to the fire department’s entrance.

This year marks the law’s implementation, but before citations are issued, drivers have a 12-month grace period. Additionally, parking spaces that are within 20 feet of a crosswalk must be removed by cities. Bicycles and motorized scooters are allowed to park in certain areas by legislation.

What is the reason Behind Making the California Daylighting Law?

Several fatal accidents have occurred in San Jose and Oakland, with a notable portion of these instances involving walker deaths. Twenty-seven pedestrian deaths, or five percent of the 49 fatal pedestrian crashes in 2023, were reported in San Jose.

Thirteen pedestrian deaths in Oakland last year made up 45% of the entirety of 29 road fatalities. On Thursday, February 1, 2024, a woman strolls across International Boulevard at 54th Avenue in Oakland, California.

There, she passed away when a car struck her. Democrat Assemblyman Alex Lee of Milpitas has introduced AB 413, a new state law, to increase pedestrian security at crosses.

Local governments have responded to this problem by enacting laws known as “crosswalk daylighting,” which permit parking of electric scooters and bicycles inside a 20-foot area and permits cars to be parked near pedestrian crossings when necessary and indicated by paint or signposts.

Some locals, like Sabriya Karaca, worry that the new regulation will make driveways outside more challenging because they are ignorant of it. San Jose is only now starting to evaluate how the new law’s enforcement will affect parking spaces.

What has Heyne stated about this law?

According to the Head of the Department of Transportation Heyne, San Jose is only now starting to consider which parking spaces might be impacted by the new rule and how to handle them.

“Like towns and cities we don’t have intentions to modify or add red paint until we have worries regarding particular locations,” Heyne stated, referring to the unfulfilled mandate nature of the law.

Individuals will just need to know not to park close enough to a pedestrian crossing or intersection, just as they’re doing with fire stations, especially in areas like residential areas where there are relatively few prevention indications.

Heyne stated, “We anticipate motorists to know that not all fire hydrants in the city have red paint around them.” “This will follow the same procedure.”

What is daylight’s main purpose, and how many states make use of it at present?

The purpose of the bill’s sponsor, Assemblymember Alex Lee, is to prohibit vehicles from obstructing oncoming traffic’s vision of pedestrians by providing a clear path of sight for all forms of transportation. This practice is known as “daylighting.”

Lee said in an announcement that went along with the legislation’s introduction last year, “Daylighting is an established method we may create the roads fairer for all people, and 43 additional states are currently utilizing some version of daylighting.”

“We can all securely share the road by taking a small but crucial step to make it easier for drivers, pedestrians, and bikers to see each other at crossroads.”

Every year, How many pedestrians die in California due to road accidents?

The most recent statistics from the California Office of Traffic Safety show that the state has a pedestrian death rate that is about 25% greater than the national average. In California, bicycle fatalities reduced from 136 to 125 in 2021, but the number of pedestrians killed grew from 1,013 in 2020 to 1,108 in 2021.

According to city statistics, from January to October of last year, 134 pedestrians in Los Angeles were killed by cars, while 427 others had serious injuries. According to Los Angeles officials, the figures indicate a 13% increase in pedestrian fatalities and an 18% increase in serious injuries over the previous year.