Some renegade fake “no parking” curbs in the Richmond District seem designed to fool motorists into thinking they can’t park in these legal spots. They’ve apparently fooled some ticket agents too, as SFMTA has issued a couple of tickets they’ve had to rescind.
We all had a good laugh Thursday morning when news broke that someone was painting fake red “no parking” curbs in the Richmond District, complete with a very convincing-looking SFMTA logo on them. The fake paintjobs come just as SF prepares to start enforcing a new “daylighting” parking law that prohibits parking within 20 feet of a crosswalk.
If parking wasn't already hard enough in San Francisco, an unknown person or persons painted fake red zones causing more confusion over California's new Daylighting Law. https://t.co/YJicQnIQpe https://t.co/YJicQnIQpe
— ABC7 News (@abc7newsbayarea) January 24, 2025
But a few motorists are not laughing, as the Chronicle reports that the SF Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) has issued at least two wrongful tickets to drivers parked in zones that the outlaw curb-painters had painted red. While the daylighting law prohibits parking within 20 feet of the crosswalk, the fake paint jobs extend the red paint back as far as 35 feet from the crosswalk.
Once SFMTA became aware of the situation, they ordered a review of tickets issued in the areas with the bogus red-painted curbs. “So far, we’ve identified and dismissed two,” SFMTA spokesperson Michael Roccaforte told the Chronicle.
But they may not have gotten all of them. A Richmond resident named Justin Lee said to the Chronicle that he parked his car in an unpainted area last week, and returned the next morning to find the curb painted red, and his car ticketed.
Lee says he tape-measured the curb, and it was painted red well past the 20-foot mark. The Chron reports that SFMTA “has declined his protest,” but that the agency “was not immediately able to determine whether the agency had overruled the ticket amid its review of fake red curbs.”
The fake red curbs have been spotted on Balboa Street between 17th and 19th avenues, and on Cabrillo Street between 15th to 19th avenues.
It’s frankly unknown whether these vigilante curb-paintings even have anything to do with the new daylighting parking laws. And either way, SFMTA says they will not start issuing the $40-$108 fines until March 1, according to KQED.
Image: NagyLebowski via Reddit
