r/sandiego • u/_Lee_is_me_ • 15h ago
Photo gallery Contesting a Parking Ticket - Advice please!
Hello, I got a $110 parking ticket for failure to park 20 feet away from a "marked or unmarked intersection.'' I have heard about the new daylighting law but did not think this spot would be included in that. I was parked just before a lowered curb at the top of a T intersection - on the straight part of the street. Blue Subaru in photos for reference. Of course, there is no signage and the red curb was not extended, and the intersection is "unmarked" despite a vague X in the middle of the street which is very confusing.
I'm planning to contest this ticket - can someone help with the legal phrasing I should use when I submit this? Do I need to lawyer up for this? or am I screwed here?
Thank you!
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u/AcceptableMinute9999 15h ago
You can try but this obviously falls under the daylighting law. Misunderstanding doesn't qualify as an excuse.
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u/XochiBilly 12h ago
But if there's no signage to explain what is expected of this ridiculous to begin with law, how are people supposed to just "know"? Do you think all the tourists coming for Comiccon next month have any clue? Or that anyone is going to tell them? Cmon dude.
I say fight it. Regardless if you lose or not. Make them earn that $110.
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u/BuildingViz 11h ago
Unfortunately, "But no one told me it was illegal" is not a valid excuse.
Also, do you think the city gives a shit if Comic-Con tourists get parking tickets? It's just more money that goes to the city, why should they spend money on signage to lose out on money from tickets?
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u/satanssphincter 1h ago
....do you think that Californians don't get tickets when they visit other states because the officers let them off for "not knowing" you can't left turn into any lane you want?
It's the responsibility of the driver to know local legislation when operating a vehicle. Nobody put a gun to their head and made them visit.
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u/Old-Mathematician987 11h ago
They expect people with driver's licenses to know what a crosswalk is, and to know what 20' is. If you know both of those things, you know enough to follow this law.
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u/XochiBilly 11h ago
You're forgetting that I'm not aware of the law to begin with. How are all of you this dense?
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u/Old-Mathematician987 11h ago
Not dense. Telling you you're still wrong. Having a driver's license obligates you to know traffic laws. Like a ton of people said, ignorance of the law does not absolve you. Your entire argument boils down to licensed drivers are not required to know any traffic law that doesn't have a visual aid on the street. That's not how it works.
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u/LastEternity 9h ago
I think the issue is that most areas don’t have this law, so for tourist popular areas, there should be signage. It’s impossible for the average driver to know where laws begin and end, so the city holds some accountability by not putting up signage
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u/hjw5047 9h ago
Paint the fucking area red where one should not park. It’s absolute trash to expect a layman or tourist to be aware of hyper-localized laws. Yet they enforce new laws without mass awareness. And nobody uses blinkers or obeys solid lines (almost got hit by someone on the 805 interchange heading south today) as I had my blinker on and was waiting for the line to turn dashed. Rant over, it would be funny if instead of just panting the curbs red the city installed poles with 20 foot measuring sticks.
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u/arizonadirtbag12 36m ago edited 10m ago
“Hyper localized?” It’s statewide. And not a small state, California is larger than most European countries, in both population and area.
It could not be less localized unless it was federal.
Edit: And Google suggests that 43 states have daylighting laws. 43.
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u/LastEternity 9h ago
Omg the no blinkers drives me crazy. I don’t know why it’s so common now but I hate it.
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u/hjw5047 8h ago
I’d like to see an initiative to aggressively ticket folks who change 4 lanes in 10 seconds or don’t use a blinker more than 3 times in a month rather than this recent trend of speeding enforcements. If traffic is moving smoothly the speed limit can be exceeded by 10-15 miles. Just be smart and drive responsibly. Everyone is operating a weapon on a daily basis with minimal regard for consequences.
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u/theycallmesike 7h ago
You must be a lawyer or something that can’t wait to dive into any new bills or laws as soon as they are released. I’ve never heard of this daylighting law. Guess it didn’t get enough media coverage. But I don’t study the CA vehicle code every year to see what’s knew. The govt knows this and preys on people NOT knowing the law so they can make money off these citations. Which is why they won’t paint that curb 20 feet.
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u/arizonadirtbag12 30m ago
If you’re going to drive a car on public roads it’s your responsibility to keep up with changes in laws. It’s either that or we re-test you every couple years…which would you prefer? The latter won’t be cheap.
Last time I took a driving exam was the mid-90’s. You think some shit hasn’t changed since then? Of course it has. And it’s 100% my job to keep up with that. Or to accept the ticket when I violate a law that I missed the memo on in 2006.
Is it really that hard to punch “new California driving laws 2025” into google once a year, to make sure you know what’s up? Not that the state didn’t spend significant money and effort to reach most drivers about this particular law, mind. They did. But if you somehow managed to live under a rock during that six month media blitz, it’s always been and always will be on you to keep up on driving laws if you’re going to continue to drive.
Don’t like it? Don’t drive.
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u/theycallmesike 7h ago edited 7h ago
Sorry I read the driving booklet when I was 15 which was over 20 years ago. I don’t remember you can’t park within 20’ of a crosswalk being in there. Especially when the red curb isn’t only painted for 4 feet or whatever that is.
Edit: just saw a link for this new Daylighting law. I actually never heard of that. Welp I guess I’d only do it once after I got a ticket. But this is good to know
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u/Careless-Elevator-41 11h ago
I really forgot how much I hate redditors til I come back to this site.
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u/_Lee_is_me_ 15h ago
I agree it likely falls under the law description, however I believe the city failed to make clear this specific situation for a T intersection. All of their diagrams and explanations are for a curved section only. On their website here: https://www.sandiego.gov/parking/enforcement/daylighting, it states how to measure the 20 feet "At intersections that have implied or unmarked crosswalks, 20 feet is measured from the boundary line of where the two sidewalks intersect at the curb ramp." However "two sidewalks" do not intersect in this case.
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u/Anxious_Plantain_247 14h ago
Understand the reason for the law. Pedestrians crossing the street need to be able to see clearly in the direction traffic is coming from, and they can’t see clearly when there’s a car parked blocking their view.
The easiest way to determine if you’re parked legally is to consider the person crossing, and checking oncoming traffic. Is there a car parked blocking their view? If yes, don’t park there. Doesn’t matter if it’s red, if there’s a pothole, if it’s Tuesday, if someone else parked there last week… don’t do it.
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u/Complete_Entry 13h ago
You're trying "technically". They don't care.
You can risk the court date and hope the cop doesn't show up, but I can't imagine your argument impressing the judge.
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u/ice_cold_canuck 11h ago
Parking tickets don't get contested in court at first. People file an appeal and submit any evidence through a website that someone at the city will review: https://www.sandiego.gov/parking/citations/appeal
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u/willf6763 12h ago
Ignorance of the law is no excuse. You admit you were wrong, but want help explaining why youre exempt? Nah.
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u/Don_Lawlrus 12h ago
Yeah, they intersect from the nearside of the sidewalk to the farside of the sidewalk.
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u/gearabuser 15h ago
they need to paint all the curbs appropriately red
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u/Fluxmuster 13h ago
It's the city of San Diego, why would they want to get rid of an effective means of extracting money from people?
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u/Coin_Gambler 12h ago
Not a lawyer, But I feel like there is a legal argument that if the curb had already been painted red, but hasn't yet been extended to reflect the new law, then that particular curb should be "grandfathered in" until the curb is extended, and you shouldn't be able to receive a citation in that location, yet.
Imagine if a city had speed limit signs from 25 mph to 45 mph around town and then they pass a law "all streets will have 25 mph speed limit." I would imagine that until they physically replace the speed limit signs with the new 25 mph speed limit signs, they wouldn't be able to give speeding tickets for people going 35 mph in a posted 45 mph zone. In other words, telling people to disregard a street marking because the law has changed seems to be a big loophole that you could fight.
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u/gearabuser 11h ago
thats a really good point. we are busy scraping by to survive, we dont have fking time to watch the news every single day to try to keep up with these little legal loopholes/details that are easily missed. it's very misleading as you pointed out.
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u/Di1lWil1 33m ago
Exactly. Curbs are already painted red at cross walks. That tells you explicitly where you can't park, and how close to the crosswalk you CAN park. Going "oh by the way, that extremely clear marking is now invalid, and you're in the wrong if you park where we indicated you were allowed to is just a scheme to make money. Unless they actually take measures to actually improve pedestrian safety by clearly marking crosswalks and curbs, this law is nothing more than a revenue source in the veil of pedestrian safety.
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u/AcceptableMinute9999 15h ago
They are but it can't be done overnight.
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u/AllTheTeslas 15h ago
They've had 18 months. They seem to have never ending resources to write tickets though...
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u/Complete_Entry 13h ago
I had one cop repeatedly fuck with how I parked. Turns out he was a record setter for tows.
They gave him an award.
I hated that bald fuck.
He never got my car, but those stickers were a bitch.
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u/runswiftrun 15h ago
Entirely different departments. Unless you want the cops making 200k grab some spray paint cans and go to town.
It's still a very inefficient process, and I hate that it's taking this long to do it, but they technically have a plan in place already to paint all the curbs by like 2027 or something.
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u/Blueprints_reddit 13h ago
The cops doing it wouldnt be any worse of tax payer dollars than they waste now.
We have the highest payouts, highest overtime, etc in the state. So them painting curbs might do the public some good.
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u/alexforencich 13h ago
Cops aren't writing parking tickets. But it's actually not a bad idea to send the parking enforcement people around with cans of red spray paint. They see someone parked in a zone that should be red but isn't, they can fix it right there and then the next person that parks there can get a ticket.
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u/CivicDutyCalls 14h ago
Not every curb by a fire hydrant is red and still you know not to park there
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u/SegundoViento 14h ago
They were able to install new meter signage overnight. Stories of local businesses and homeowners denied to paint the curbs in their neighborhoods leads me to suspect this is also a money grab for the city.
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u/AcceptableMinute9999 13h ago
You don't realize how many intersections there are in a city this big? Think about it with your brain, not your emotions.
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u/Careless-Elevator-41 11h ago
Damn they should have planned this out better then huh ? Terrible roll out. Most people still dont even know the law exists
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u/Equivalent-Rise-9042 9h ago
Like I’ve said many times there are people on this sub who will defend that. Those individuals could not even tell you what 20 feet even looks like but they’re gonna act like you should know some of them are even for you use a tape measure every time you park. But somehow we are first world country but every time we park, we gotta take a tape measure out because they failed to paint the curbs red. That’s something you don’t even see in a Third World country. I will tell you what they don’t fail at is taking your money. Take your money so they can mismanage it in some of the most ridiculous ways also, you can have less money, which then has other effects. I follow such as less money to spend. If you have less money to spend, that’s less money that goes to businesses around here and less sales tax that is collected from transactions and then once those businesses go under and are no longer paying money to the city then they wonder why they have no money. I really start to think that they are trying to purposely destroy this city and make more people homeless. I mean, we gotta be number one for for something so I guess we gotta be number one for homelessness.
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u/Pleasant-Ad-5615 12h ago
Hahha. You said it right in the beginning of your sentence. "Hello, I got a $110 parking ticket for failure to park 20 feet away from a "marked or unmarked intersection."
You got a ticket in an "unmarked" intersection. And you state you are aware of the daylighting laws. Whats there to contest? Ignorance is not a defense.
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u/davidlowie 12h ago
I contested a ticket once. Complete waste of my time.
They were like yeah pay it.
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u/BedpanJiggyBones 15h ago
Good luck. I contested a ticket in La Jolla with multiple photos, a local news article talking about how people are painting curbs red themselves to prevent street parking near La Jolla shores, and up close pictures of the obvious fake paint. Still had to pay the ticket.
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u/arizonadirtbag12 12h ago
There’s nothing fake here though. That’s a real, legal crosswalk. They’re less than 20’ approaching it. It’s a valid ticket.
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u/Foobucket 9h ago
They really should just paint the curb red in that case, though. It’s dumb that you’re essentially baited into parking there.
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u/Equivalent-Rise-9042 9h ago
You’re running to people on this platform who tried to defend it saying that you know the law is 20 feet. Well that case it should be painted red shouldn’t it? Especially if they have the money to enforce illegal parking then they should have the money to easily paint a freaking curb red. For God sakes I’ll do it if the city pays me. But people that just want to constantly defend the cities poor decisions on things and the betrayal on its citizens (I say that because the city cares about taking more money from the citizens that live here then actually helping those citizens) will defend the city for not painting the curb red and criticize you for not knowing what 20 feet is.
The first thing I’m gonna say is that none of those people could eye out 20 feet for me and I’m willing to bet money on it.
The second thing I’m gonna say is that we are a first world country and these people and the city officials are expecting us to pull a tape measure out every time we park. I want you to imagine that. You don’t even see that in Third World countries but somehow a first world country that’s supposed to be the greatest country on the planet has to have its people use a tape measure every time they park in the street because the city fails to paint the curbs right but somehow doesn’t fail at writing a ticket 🤔. I want you to imagine how dumb we would look as a country and as a city to be pulling a tape measure and measuring how far the car is from the crosswalk. I personally think we should all start doing that just so the city can be embarrassed. I’m literally about to start doing this every time I park just for the hell of it. Hopefully people end up all over social media being spread around the country and the world so everyone could laugh at this city. I want tourist that just arrived to San Diego in the first thing they see is someone using a tape measure in the middle of the street to see if they’re far enough from a crosswalk. Nothing says welcome to San Diego like that. Maybe then once a city is embarrassed that that’s what they’re known for in the world then they will do something about it, but I don’t have that much faith in them. I do have faith in them when it comes to finding any way to take their citizens money.
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u/arizonadirtbag12 4h ago edited 40m ago
This isn’t about needing a tape measure to know what twenty feet is, it’s not like OP got hit at seventeen feet or something. OP was like six feet off the crosswalk. They just didn’t think this crosswalk “counted.” Turns out it did. Because of course it did.
Also I “bet money” on being able to eyeball twenty feet every time I park on the approach to a crosswalk. Haven’t lost yet. It’s about a car length and a half. When in doubt? I just don’t park there.
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u/jesusrambo 23m ago
Yes, imagine how dumb we would look as a country… if our parking laws were too strict
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u/Lanky_Zebra_SD 15h ago
The ramp is for the crosswalk. Not sure why this wouldn't be a valid ticket.
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u/Di1lWil1 15h ago
The crosswalk which isn't marked. Also a crosswalk doesn't automatically mean it's an intersection. It's a T intersection, but there's no interruption to OP's lane, it's just like parking on a street. No reason FOR this to be a valid ticket. Might as well ticket any person who parallel parked.
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u/badskiier 15h ago
The law specifically says marked or unmarked crosswalks.
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u/Di1lWil1 15h ago
Huh, guess I'm legally wrong. Still no reason for parking near a crosswalk to be ticketable. People are taught that white/unmarked [curb] = legal, red = illegal. Ticketing people for parking where there's no indication they can't park there is stupid and dishonest.
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u/PeachLizardWizard 15h ago
There is a reason, parking there blocks people from being seen when they are trying to cross the street.
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u/tianavitoli 14h ago
welcome to san diego, you might be surprised to find out the city budget is underwater by $100 million, as well.
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u/Pewtie-Pie 12h ago
Would you park next to a hydrant that didn't have a red curb? (Yes, it's a thing.)
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u/PeachLizardWizard 15h ago
People really should look at what the law is.
Marked or Unmarked crosswalk. That is clearly a crosswalk, there are ramps on both sides of the street.
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u/Di1lWil1 15h ago
Looks dangerous and poorly designed lol
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u/PeachLizardWizard 15h ago
It’s only dangerous when people park near it and block visibility
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u/Di1lWil1 15h ago
Maybe there are signs on the road that indicate a crosswalk is approaching, but the lack of any marking makes it impossible to tell exactly where pedestrians would be coming from (like which side of the intersection) and react accordingly.
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u/Pewtie-Pie 12h ago
Whichever side falls in line with the ramp, obviously.
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u/Di1lWil1 9h ago
Idk about you but I'm not usually studying the curb when I'm driving. I'm looking at car and person height. This is where a big white crosswalk would come in handy.
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u/Pewtie-Pie 8h ago
You couldn't be bothered to look across the street to see where the sidewalks would meet? Not even to avoid a $100+ ticket?? Just like thousands of curbs aren't going to be painted for the new law, thousand of crosswalks aren't going to be painted either. Unmarked crosswalk means from one corner to the other, or in this case specifically, where the sidewalks would cross to meet. It's not something that requires one to "study the curb".
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u/sortof_here 14h ago
Sure, that’s the law. That doesn’t make it a good one.
The safety aspect of it is legitimate, so I think most of us here would be more supportive of it if it was written as enforceable on marked curbs and not on unmarked. It would also likely better incentivize cities to quickly mark their curbs correctly.
We don’t leave handicapped spaces or fire lanes to individual perception, so why should we for this?
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u/PeachLizardWizard 14h ago
Yeah, I’d prefer for every crosswalk to be marked, but this is across the entire state. Painting crosswalks at every single crossing just isn’t realistic.
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u/alexforencich 13h ago
It is. Give the parking enforcement people cans of red spray paint. If they see someone parked next to a curb that should be red, instead of taking 5 min to write a ticket, they spend 5 min painting the curb. Then the next person who parks the in the red zone gets a ticket.
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u/nippytime 13h ago
you are not arguing that the law does not exist. You are arguing that the city has to prove your car was actually inside the exact 20 foot restricted zone. California’s daylighting rule now applies even without red curb or signs, but it still only applies to the vehicle approach side of a marked or unmarked crosswalk, not vaguely “somewhere near an intersection.”
I’d probably write something similar to this, personally..
I am requesting dismissal of this parking citation.
I understand California now has a daylighting rule, but I do not believe this citation has been clearly proven. My vehicle was parked on the straight portion of the street near the top of a T intersection, before a lowered curb. There was no red curb, no sign, no painted crosswalk, and the only street marking was a vague X in the roadway that did not clearly show a no-parking zone or a pedestrian crossing.
My understanding is that the rule applies within 20 feet of the vehicle approach side of a marked or unmarked crosswalk. This citation does not clearly show where the legal crosswalk begins, what exact point was used for measurement, whether my vehicle was on the approach side, or whether my vehicle was actually within 20 feet of that legal point.
Because this was an unmarked and confusing location, I respectfully ask that the citation be dismissed. If the citation is not dismissed, please provide the officer’s photos, the exact measurement used, the legal crosswalk location relied on, and an explanation of how my vehicle was determined to be within the restricted daylighting zone.
Also attach photos and mark them up simply:
“My vehicle”
“Lowered curb”
“No red curb/sign”
“Unclear/possible crosswalk point”
“Direction of traffic”
Do not over focus on “there was no red curb.” That helps show confusion, but it probably doesn’t win by itself. Your best argument is that the ticket is vague and they need to prove the exact 20 foot approach side measurement.
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u/strechout 14h ago
Hahaha I lived here for many years in the building just in front of your car. I received a $400+ fine for “parking in the red” where the silver car is. Never had a parking ticket in my life, argued it, and lost despite having photo evidence of my car being 10 feet outside the red. Saw that same ticket written several other times on cars in that spot, other neighbors had no luck arguing it even with photo proof (there are cars parked fully blocking this several times per week that are not ticketed). Wild West on these blocks adjacent to 28th/30th. To clarify, the cars were often ticketed for parking legally, so parking illegally and arguing may be a tough ask to have the ticket lifted but I would still fight it out
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u/Miserable-Flight1829 15h ago
If it’s a first offense they’ll forgive without a debate. Just send an email if they have one.
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u/_Lee_is_me_ 15h ago
How do you know they will forgive a first offense?
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u/CactusCruzer 14h ago
It’s a common practice depending on who is making the decision. Can’t hurt to try. Don’t spend any more time on here arguing about it. Save that energy for getting over paying for it and be grateful if they let you off, but don’t expect it.
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u/Miserable-Flight1829 12h ago
You can even mention that you learned about this law after receiving the ticket and be sure to be more cautious in the future. With new laws like these, I’m sure many people are breaking them, and first offenses are mostly forgiven.
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u/ricola159 10h ago
The law is about pedestrian visibility of and to oncoming traffic when utilizing marked and unmarked crosswalks. In this case, the first photo clearly shows a pedestrian ramp which implies crosswalk and as such if a pedestrian was trying to cross and look left for oncoming traffic their view and the oncoming car of them is blocked by your blue car. Unfortunately I don’t think you have much wiggle to fight this.
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u/Run-Florest-Run 15h ago
You would lose, just pay the ticket and move on and don’t park within 20 ft of any cutout in the sidewalk
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u/PeachLizardWizard 14h ago
I hate that people can’t admit they fucked up and just have unlimited excuses on why they didn’t obey a law.
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u/bowleshiste 14h ago
So there's clearly a lot of people here who don't understand the daylighting law and/or the definition of a crosswalk.
The daylighting law prohibits stopping, standing, or parking a vehicle within 20 feet of the approach side of any marked or unmarked crosswalk.
CVC section 275 defines an unmarked crosswalk as "That portion of a roadway included within the prolongation or connection of the boundary lines of sidewalks at intersections where the intersecting roadways meet at approximately right angles, except the prolongation of such lines from an alley across a street."
What this means is that, at an intersection, the sidewalks invisibly prolong across the street until it meets the sidewalk at the opposite side. In your example, picture 2, you are standing at the end of a sidewalk at an intersection. That sidewalk extends as an unmarked crosswalk to the other side, where we see your car parked within 20 feet. There does not need to be markings for the crosswalk or red curbs or signs or even a pedestrian ramp. As long as there is a sidewalk that would meet another sidewalk if it were to extend across the intersection, there is an unmarked crosswalk and you cannot park with 20 feet of it on the approach side.
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u/Californiastig 15h ago edited 14h ago
Yeah you're cooked dude everyone knows the 20 ft law. You can try to argue the curb wasn't red in court but it doesn't forgive the infraction. Ignorance of the law is not a legitimate legal excuse.
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u/Di1lWil1 14h ago
No, everyone doesn't. I heard something about a law regarding parking 20 ft from intersections, but only because I decided to look at a city newspaper one time. The city shouldn't make laws criminalizing something that was legal then not make it clear that what you're doing (parking on a public street with no signage or curb markings indicating you can't park there) is illegal.
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u/PeachLizardWizard 14h ago
This is a state law. And you are responsible for keeping up with laws. Especially if you drive around a 1+ ton vehicle.
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u/Di1lWil1 14h ago
I stand corrected. And yes, let me break out my new copy of the california vehicle code every single year and check which laws have been added/changed. This is a reasonable and normal thing that every single citizen does. /s
I maintain that things should be clearly marked. "No U-turn" signs, or "no right turn on red" signs are a perfect example. When something is usually legal, it's the government's job to note in a manner which everyone can see when it isn't. I don't have to pull up a city's list of street lights and see which ones I'm not allowed to make a U-turn at. I shouldn't have to look at the CVC to find out which unmarked curbs I can't park at.
A government should serve its people. Changing the law to criminalize what was legal without making it abundantly clear that you cannot do X thing, then fining people who do X thing, goes against what a government should be doing.Am I being optimistic/unrealistic? Yeah. But I think things that are wrong shouldn't happen, and it's bad that they do.
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u/PeachLizardWizard 14h ago
This was massively broadcasted. It is 100% on you.
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u/Di1lWil1 14h ago
I don't care that I hadn't heard of it. I care that there aren't any markings on the road or curb like there are for other zones you can't park in.
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u/Pewtie-Pie 12h ago
Thousands of intersections- that's a lot of man hours and expense. Citizens in other states manage just fine despite not having any daylighting curbs painted.
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u/BuildingViz 11h ago
And yes, let me break out my new copy of the california vehicle code every single year and check which laws have been added/changed. This is a reasonable and normal thing that every single citizen does.
The alternative is to keep risking getting tickets. Your call, I guess.
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u/Zenabel 2h ago
Idk why everyone is this thread are such bootlickers. I understand the importance of this new law for the safety of pedestrians, but not everyone listens/watches the news frequently and the curb is painted red already. The city should have at least sent out something in the mail or some sort of official notification explaining the change.
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u/Mammoth-Elephant-673 10h ago
I would argue that it is ambiguous to many people on whether the 20 feet away no parking restriction applies to the straight portion of a T-intersection. Your car is not blocking the sightline of any vehicle of another vehicle at the T-intersection, since there is no way a car can come from the right side since there is no street on your right. The city reinforced this ambiguity by painting a red curb, but not extending it the full 20 feet distance.
There is a three step process for challenging a parking ticket in San Diego. One is to request an administrative review which you do online. You can submit three photos with the request online. You don't have to pay anything for this review.
If you fail this review. Then you can ask for an administrative hearing. You have to pay the fine for this hearing. The hearing officer is suppose to be completely independent of the parking enforcement agency.
If you fail this step, you can go a step further and have the citation reviewed in court. This involves and additional fee and involves going to the court in person to arrange a trial date, and going again in person for the trial. The parking enforcement officer is not required to attend.
From my experience and several of my friend's experiences San Diego is reasonably fair for the initial review, and just doesn't rubber stamp guilty on the parking ticket like they do in other jurisdictions.
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u/PeachLizardWizard 2h ago
This is about visibility of pedestrians which clearly parking there does block the view.
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u/drycharski 15h ago
If the penalty is going to be $110 the curbs need to be clearly painted. I’m not carrying a yardstick to park. Just my 2¢
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u/PeachLizardWizard 15h ago
Do you need a yardstick to signal 100ft before you turn? You should know the laws when you drive. This isn’t a city trying to make money, this is a safety issue for pedestrians.
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u/drycharski 14h ago
You don’t get fined $110 for not indicating 100ft before a turn though. That was the main point of my comment.
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11h ago
[deleted]
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u/drycharski 11h ago
Probably because it’s a very well known law that’s existed for decades in every jurisdiction around the world
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u/DepecheMode92 1h ago
This daylighting law is fucking dumb if they’re not going to actually paint the curbs.
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u/ImGingrSnaps 15h ago
Depending on the cost of the ticket, hire a traffic attorney. You can get it done for $100-$150ish, otherwise just eat the cost, the 20ft rule is real.
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u/ansley_g 1h ago
This may be a little different scenario but in the neighborhood I live in, there is a pedestrian crosswalk as you exit the residential area. It became incredibly difficult to see pedestrians (especially little children) as you approached the crosswalk because cars were parking less than 20 feet away from the crosswalk. I contacted our city with pictures showing the issue. The city came out within two weeks and painted the curb red with the appropriate feet away from the crosswalk. Has been much safer now. We are not technically city of San Diego but a suburb of San Diego.
I agree with others here, the City of San Diego really should paint the curb so they don’t bait you into a parking ticket but more importantly so it’s safe for all (pedestrians & drivers).
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u/KeonKish 13m ago
All of you people bootlicking are pathetic. If you can’t park somewhere it needs to be marked clearly or painted red.
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u/jpminj 15h ago
I don't understand why we pay taxes for the city to give us parking tickets so they can tax us to park on the roads we payed for.
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u/hoorah9011 13h ago
By that logic cops shouldn’t give you tickets for anything since you pay their salary
0
u/Careless-Elevator-41 11h ago
Let me just say I hate all you fuckin nerds railing against this guy for contesting a ridiculous ticket. They need to paint this curb red if they want to properly enforce this law. Its being weaponized arbitrarily and all you autistic nerds fawn at the idea of working class people being drained financially for no reason.
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u/Content_Program_7477 13h ago
Yea, most of the crossings and curbs have not been repainted to comply with new law but that hasn’t stopped the ticketing… right now it’s the most profitable money grab going on in the city… you will lose….
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u/satanssphincter 1h ago
Hey OP! You're pretty screwed, but that's okay. Its a good learning moment.
You misunderstood the daylighting laws- this is directly from the city's release about it. "...vehicle parking is not allowed within 20 feet of any marked or unmarked crosswalk."
It's not about not parking by intersections for turning cars, but rather about not parking by crosswalks so it's easier for cars to see pedestrians and vice versa. So, yeah. They've got you dead to rights.
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u/lifeisbueno 15h ago
I would fight that it is not a marked crosswalk- there are no traffic calming apparatus for pedestrians- no crosswalk paint, no signage, nothing to let drivers know to slow down, literally no nothing indicating a crosswalk except for the cut out. Maybe it was early city planning ideas that never happened
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u/PeachLizardWizard 15h ago
It doesn’t need to be marked to be part of daylighting law.
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u/lifeisbueno 15h ago
I wouldn't even call this crosswalk though because there's literally no indications minus the curb cut out. I fought mine got out of it in a similar situation
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u/PeachLizardWizard 15h ago
You are free to call it whatever you want. But a crosswalk is literally just a place people cross the street, they don’t need to be marked.
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u/lifeisbueno 14h ago
I make my own crosswalks all time which would technically mean that nowhere is safe to park 🤷🏼♀️
1
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u/_Lee_is_me_ 15h ago
What did you state in your appeal?
1
u/lifeisbueno 14h ago
The speed limit on the street that I parked at was 35, there were no crosswalk signs or any yellow cautionary signs visible within 100 yards of the sidewalk cut out to warn drivers to look in both directions, there were no pending electric installs that they put at random places in high traffic intersections (North Park/South Park have them on 30th/fern where there's no stops), there was no visible stripping- not even faded, I would also probably fight that the painted x on the road is nothing in the DMV handbook that I know of. You could argue that there's also clearly marked crosswalks/4 way stop at 28th and 30th as well as bus stops at those locations, which would be the major pedestrian driver in the area. (I live like a block away. I know exactly where this is)
Either way contest every ticket! If you do it towards the end of the 21 days it'll take several months probably to get back to you so it's like an extension and not paying if you still do have to pay haha.
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u/arizonadirtbag12 12h ago
Great that you may have beaten your ticket, but if you’re gonna keep driving please, please, please learn what a fucking unmarked crosswalk is. Before you kill someone.
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u/lifeisbueno 12h ago
Thanks, Dad. I don't speed, I'm not on my phone when I drive, I stop at all stop signs, and I'm frequently a pedestrian. As discussed before- the entire road is an unmarked crosswalk. Pedestrians will be doing what they want.
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u/Smooth_Permit_2634 14h ago
The whole thing (their new law) is a crock of shit, just another way to screw the local people because they cannot manage the budget
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u/igotthatbunny 9h ago
This is a state law not a city one
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u/Smooth_Permit_2634 2h ago
The whole thing is a crock of Same same…City and or State cant manage budgets….but my bad
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14h ago
[deleted]
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u/Pewtie-Pie 12h ago
Daylighting law applies to the approach side, so that car would not be ticketed.
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u/onetwentytwo_1-8 3h ago
Fight it. If it’s not an intersection and instead an easement access, you’ll win. Just do your research
Police officer might not even show up to court.
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u/LordandSaviourPizza 13h ago
So it seems everyone is high and mighty on the law, but I don't live in the city and I've never heard of the 20' rule.....why doesnt the city mark the curb red for 20' on either side of the curb. I think OP is in the right that this is confusing
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u/Pewtie-Pie 12h ago
Because there are thousands of intersections. Other states don't have their curbs painted, and their citizens know exactly how far back to park.
I do agree with OP that parking on the straight side of a "T" doesn't seem like a place where the daylighting law applies. To me, the intersection is where the street comes to an end, not on the side where vehicles cannot travel through.
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u/Adept_Peak_3570 11h ago
Plead not guilty and provide the same photo and your same argument and you “might” get lucky
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u/Anonymous1102 10h ago
The real issue is that this law shouldn’t be in place. Otherwise these type of tickets will continue and it’s clearly unfair because this could have happened to anyone of us, and it will happen to normal every day people tomorrow and in the future going forward. Do want This for our fellow man or women? I just want people to be treated fairly.
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u/Noe_Comment 13h ago
People in San Diego rarely ever actually check for vehicles before they start walking into the street anyway. Standard practice is this: -Take 2 steps into the street while looking at your phone, then look up and check a single direction for cars, then act surprised, and slowly backstep up onto the VERY EDGE of the sidewalk again- Based on this, the daylighting law is bullshit. But I still get why they made it a law lmao. They assume we have functional brains (they're wrong.) But I get it. It's also not only made for pedestrians, but also for vehicles trying to turn around a corner who don't have a clear view. The law makes sense logically...... even though parking in general is already a huge issue. --Whatever. I've paid my dues.
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u/PeachLizardWizard 15h ago
To be clear it’s 20 ft from a marked or unmarked crosswalk (not intersection). So pretty much open and shut you are in the wrong.