As the new daylighting laws preventing parking within 20 feet of a crosswalk are in effect, SFMTA has not painted all of the necessary curbs red. So some joker went and painted some counterfeit red “no parking” curbs, but got the dimensions completely wrong.
We’ve known for a full year now that the new California parking law called “daylighting” would prevent parking within 20 feet of a pedestrian crosswalk. The law technically took effect on January 1, 2024, though the SF Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) started issuing warnings in November, and will begin giving actual costly parking tickets in a little under six weeks.
But in true SFMTA fashion, not all of the new no-parking spaces have had their curbs painted red, so it’s basically up to motorists to eyebell whether they are parked in a legal space.
Some anti-parking vigilante took matters into their own hands in the Richmond District, and painted fake “no parking” red curbs, according to the Chronicle. The fake red curbs were spotted by a Redditor at Balboa Street and 18th Avenue, and the renegade paint job has a fairly convincing version of the yellow SFMTA logo font. But this is not really helpful vigilantism, because the fake red curb stretches 35 feet from the crosswalk, compared to the 20 where parking would actually be prohibited.
Fake Daylighting Curb Paint in Richmond District (SFMTA confirmed)
byu/NagyLebowski insanfrancisco
“Posted these pics here a few days asking if these paint jobs that popped up overnight on the Balboa corridor were real since they go for 35 feet rather than the Daylighting statutory 20 feet,” Redditor NagyLebowski posted Wednesday. “But SFMTA has now confirmed they are not [real] and they are aware of these popping up in the Richmond and asking for any info on seeing it elsewhere.”
Another pic shows someone spray-painted green over the fake SFMTA logo, indicating we have a pro-parking counter-vigilante working against the anti-parking vigilante. The Chronicle reports that “Within hours, SFMTA had restored part of the curb on Balboa Street to its normal gray,” which implies the green splotch was not the work of SFMTA.
SFMTA spokesperson Michael Roccaforte just gave a vague response to the Chronicle that this serves as “an opportune reminder” to call 311 if you see any suspicious parking markings on curbs.
The real tickets and citations for violating the daylighting parking rules will start getting issued on March 1, according to KQED. The fines will be $40 if the curb is not painted red, and a hefty $108 if the curb is painted red.
Image: NagyLebowski via Reddit
