Daylighting, also known as intersection daylighting, is the concept that streets are safer by the removal of parked cars near crosswalks. It is not to be confused with the natural light-based concept also known as daylighting, which involves using skylights, windows and light shelves to bring direct light into one’s home to increase brightness levels.
The purpose of daylighting is to reduce traffic fatalities, particularly pedestrian fatalities. A new California law, signed into law in October 2023, will enforce daylighting in California.
The Safety Benefits of Intersection Daylighting
The daylighting law works by keeping areas near crosswalks clear of obstructions in the form of parked vehicles, allowing pedestrians and drivers to better see each other.
According to the National Association of City Transportation Officials, intersection designs should allow for eye contact between users of the road, making sure that pedestrians, bicyclists, transit vehicles and motorists intuitively perceive intersections as spaces they share.
Daylighting is enforced in Hoboken, New Jersey, and the results have been very positive: pedestrian injuries have been reduced by 30 percent and pedestrian fatalities have been reduced to zero.
Other cities, such as Portland and San Francisco, which is daylighting its High Injury Network – the subset of its streets which see the most severe crashes and fatal crashes – are also implementing daylighting policies.
A daylighting strategy provides an expanded visual field for all road users, including drivers who pull up to intersections and pedestrians who cross streets at a crosswalk, traffic light or stop sign.
Implementing daylighting into design considerations, whether on a one way street or two way street, provides pedestrians with a larger view window, meaning they don’t need to venture into intersections and look around parked vehicles to determine if they can cross safely. Drivers also get larger view windows, being able to clearly view intersections and see well ahead of time when people are waiting to cross the street.
Daylighting, along with other strategies such as curb extensions, can make roads much safer for pedestrians.
Does Daylighting Remove Parking Spaces?
Yes, daylighting removes parking spots in order to improve safety and reduce pedestrian injuries and fatalities.
The new California law prevents vehicles from parking from within 20 feet of crosswalks.
While this may inconvenience some drivers by not allowing them to park in certain areas, the tradeoff is that, in the long run, it will save pedestrians’ lives.
Daylighting can be facilitated with simple materials like bike racks, planters and bollards.
The Importance of the California Daylighting Law
The daylighting law is important because pedestrian safety is a serious issue in California:
- California sees more pedestrian deaths than any other state
- The fatality rate for California pedestrians is nearly 25 percent higher compared to the national average
- Almost 7,500 pedestrians died in the state from 2009 through 2018
- In 2018, 893 pedestrians died in California, representing a 26 percent increase from four years before that
Daylighting can prevent pedestrian fatalities by allowing drivers and pedestrians to more easily see one another at crosswalks.
When Will Daylighting Be Enforced?
Drivers in California will begin to receive citations for parking too close to crosswalks on January 1, 2025.
In the mean time, California drivers will receive warnings for parking too close to crosswalks.
Safety Tips for Pedestrians
There are things pedestrians can do to keep themselves safe, such as:
- Cross streets only at crosswalks, where drivers will expect you to cross
- Walk on sidewalks whenever you can
- Avoid going for walks while under the influence of drugs or alcohol
- Always look both ways before crossing a road
- Carry a flashlight when you take a walk at night
- Wear reflective materials or bright colors while taking walks at night or in conditions with poor lighting
- Make eye contact with passing drivers
- Make eye contact with any drivers stopped at an intersection or driveway before walking in front of their vehicle
- Do not assume that any given vehicle will stop for you
Have You Experienced a Pedestrian Accident? Call a Lawyer Today
If you or a loved one has been injured or killed in a pedestrian accident which wasn’t your fault, contact us today for a free consultation. We may be able to help you recover financial compensation after a pedestrian accident for medical bills, lost wages, pain, suffering, wrongful death and more.
Our lawyers handle pedestrian accident cases on a contingency fee basis, which means that you will not owe us any fee until and unless we recover money to compensate you for your injuries. That means no out-of-pocket or upfront fees. That means the only fee you’ll owe is a percentage of any compensation we recover on your behalf.
Sometimes our clients come to us and can’t afford to get their injuries treated. When this happens, we get them to doctors who treat them without charging for it until their case is over. This happens because doctors trust us to get great results for our clients due to our reputation for success.
We’ve been representing injured pedestrians for over 30 years and have recovered in excess of $400 million for clients. Call us today for a free consultation.
Jeffrey Nadrich
Jeffrey Nadrich is a nationally-recognized California plaintiff’s personal injury attorney. He is a graduate of UC Berkeley and UC Hastings College of the Law. He has successfully represented thousands of injury clients over the last 40 years.
