What is “Daylighting”?
Attention L.A. drivers! There’s about to be a new way you can get ticketed in California. The new legislation, known as the California Daylighting Law or AB-413, will ensure that pedestrians in crosswalks have more visibility by limiting the proximity at which vehicles can park close to crosswalks. The practice is known as “daylighting” because it increases visibility for both pedestrians and vehicles and greatly enhances pedestrian safety.
Photo by David Vives on Unsplash.
California Daylighting Law
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the bill, known as the California Daylighting Law or AB-413, into law last year, but it won’t go into full effect until Jan. 1st, 2025. According to the California Legislative Information website, “Prior to January 1, 2025, jurisdictions may only issue a warning, and shall not issue a citation, for a violation unless the violation occurs in an area marked using paint or a sign.”
Greater Pedestrian Safety
According to the proposals outlined in the new bill, AB-413 will “prohibit the stopping, standing, or parking of a vehicle within 20 feet of the vehicle approach side of any unmarked or marked crosswalk or 15 feet of any crosswalk where a curb extension is present.” More than forty other states have similar laws already in effect. According to the California Office of Traffic Safety, more pedestrians die in California than in most other states. Los Angeles city officials stated that 134 pedestrians had been hit and killed by drivers in Los Angeles from January to October of last year. Plus, 427 pedestrians in L.A. had been seriously injured by drivers. State officials are hopeful that this new law will greatly decrease those statistics.
You can read more here about the California Daylighting Law.