Correction: A previous version of this story that misidentified the Richmond Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) Dani Lanis with the incorrect last name and pronouns has been changed.
As California drivers navigate the state’s new daylighting law restricting parking near crosswalks, Richmond officials are opting for a complaint-driven approach when it comes to implementing warning measures.
Assembly Bill (AB) 413, known as the “daylighting law,” prohibits parking within 20 feet of intersections to improve pedestrian safety. Richmond’s implementation strategy, according to city and police officials, will attempt to balance community concerns with enforcement capabilities.
“The city does not have plans to proactively mark curbs with paint or install signage across the city,” Public Works Director Daniel Chavarria said. “This approach allows us to focus on (marking) areas where concerns are specifically raised while considering the unique characteristics of each location.”
According to Chavarria, AB 413 does not require local jurisdictions to proactively designate and mark off no-parking zones near every crosswalk or at all intersections.
“This provides cities flexibility in how they choose to address compliance with the law,” Chavarria said.
The Richmond Police Department told Richmondside it will be working with public works to identify areas where signs and painted curbs are needed and that it plans to begin enforcement soon.
“We are working with public works to address possible signage or painted curbs and are adding the (law) section to our electronic parking citation system,” said RPD spokesperson Lt. Donald Patchin in an email. “I do not believe the city plans to mark or put signs at every intersection.”
Patchin added that the department will also be posting to its social media accounts to educate the community.
Last year, Richmond police received approval to hire an additional two non-sworn parking enforcement personnel.
This will help the department expand its parking enforcement efforts from five to seven days a week, Patchin explained.
Richmond’s traffic law enforcement strategy has evolved
The additional parking unit staffing is an evolution of Richmond’s traffic enforcement capabilities.
The city previously staffed a dedicated traffic unit of “five to six officers and a sergeant,” Patchin said, noting that the unit focused on vehicle code violations and DUI enforcement. But staffing shortages led to its disbandment.
Current “traffic officers” now handle regular patrol duties as well as specialized traffic collision investigations and motorcycle patrol for special events, limiting their ability to focus solely on traffic violations.
“The traffic officers are currently assigned to patrol teams and respond to normal calls for service; they are no longer free to focus on traffic-related crimes/offenses,” Patchin said.
Dani Lanis, chair of the Richmond Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC), has mixed feelings about AB 413 enforcement and said he believes there should be design-based solutions instead of an enforcement approach.
“”
“Most curbs in Richmond have no markings that make it clear what falls within the limits of the daylighting zone and what is not.”
— Dani Lanis, Richmond Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee
“It’s imperative to implement daylighting as a safety measure for people who walk and roll in our neighborhoods,” Lanis said. “As a driver I wouldn’t want to crash, kill or injure a neighbor because I didn’t see them due to obstructed view, and vice-versa, I wouldn’t want myself or family members to be at risk for attempting to go to the park. These crashes are preventable. Authorities must do something to prevent it. However, enforcement is not an acceptable action.”
Lanis said that not painting curbs could open the door for selective enforcement.
“We know that officers historically found and continue to find ways around the law to discriminate against people,” he said. “Most curbs in Richmond have no markings that make it clear what falls within the limits of the daylighting zone and what is not.”
Lanis believes that the city can mitigate the gaps in AB 413 by taking into account daylighting laws when designing upgrades for specific intersections. An example, she said, is the Yellow Brick Road project in the Iron Triangle near Eighth Street and Ripley Avenue, which uses barriers and a bright yellow path to make it safer for pedestrians to cross the street.
According to public works, all current and future capital improvement projects will be reviewed for AB 413 compliance.
Residents can submit specific requests for intersection marking or other traffic-related changes through the city’s eTrakit system. Information about larger infrastructure projects is posted on Richmond’s Capital Improvement Projects dashboard.
Richmond doesn’t currently enforce ANY parking rules and regulations, so this will indeed be “selective”. Richmond doesn’t ticket for street sweeping violations, for parking on front yards, for parking on sidewalks, parking in disabled spots without a placard or plate, for parking in existing red zones…and this new rule will also be unenforced except when and where it’s politically convenient.
Agreed. No one on my street ever moves their vehicles on street sweeping days so the gutters never get cleaned. And certainly, no one ever gets ticketed which might affect behavior. What’s the point? We pay for a service that basically sweeps the middle of the street. Complete waste of tax dollars.
The chair of the Richmond BPAC is Daniel Lanis, who goes by Dani (and whose pronouns are he/him/el).
Thank you, Catalin, for catching this. We have corrected the error.