THERE IS NO WAY THAT CARS CAN SEE ME AHEAD OF TIME. >> OUR OWN LYANNE MELENDEZ HITS THE STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO TO SHOW US HOW A NEW PARKING LAW IS DESIGNED TO SAVE LIVES AND DRIVERS. WE NEED TO LISTEN UP BECAUSE IF YOU THINK YOU FOUND THE PERFECT PARKING SPOT, YOU MIGHT JUST WANT TO WAIT ON THAT. PEDESTRIAN DEATHS ARE ON THE RISE IN SOME PARTS OF THE BAY AREA, SO COULD THIS NEW LAW HELP BUILD A BETTER BAY AREA AND KEEP PEOPLE SAFE? YOU MAY NOT KNOW THIS, BUT PARKING NEXT TO CROSSWALKS IS NOW ILLEGAL. >> YEAH, THE BILL SIGNED INTO LAW EARLIER THIS MONTH IS ALREADY PROVING TO BE CONTROVERSIAL BECAUSE IT WON'T JUST HAVE AN IMPACT ON WHERE YOU PARK IN THE BAY AREA. >> ABC SEVEN NEWS REPORTER LYANNE MELENDEZ IS HERE TO KIND OF SHARE WITH US THE IMPLICATIONS OF ALL OF THIS. >> YEAH, I WAS PEOPLE DON'T KNOW THIS, I DON'T KNOW THAT WAS AMAZING. IT CAUGHT SO MANY PEOPLE BY SURPRISE, MYSELF INCLUDED. SO YOU KNOW, TRANSIT OFFICIALS USE THE WORD DAYLIGHTING WHEN YOU HAVE LIGHT, YOU SEE BETTER. RIGHT. AND THAT BASICALLY MEANS IMPROVING SAFETY BY REMOVING PARKED CARS. NEXT TO CROSSWALKS IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO SEE THE PEDESTRIAN BETTER. THIS IS NOT AN ONLY IN SAN FRANCISCO MOMENT HERE. EVERY CITY IN CALIFORNIA MUST NOW FOLLOW THIS LAW. WE. THE LAW IS SIMPLE DON'T PARK WITHIN 20FT OF A CROSSWALK. WHETHER IT'S MARKED OR NOT. SFMTA TOLD US. PARKING CONTROL OFFICERS WILL NOW ISSUE WARNINGS IF YOU'RE WITHIN THE SPIRIT OF THE 20FT, THEY'LL BE OKAY. >> THEY'RE NOT GOING. THEY'RE NOT GOING TO TAKE OUT A TAPE MEASURE. >> BUT WE DID SO RIGHT THERE IS WE'RE GOING TO MEASURE. AND THIS GOES UP TO RIGHT HERE FOR TEN. WE DID IT IN TWO STAGES TEN FEET AT A TIME. SO THAT'S ABOUT 20FT RIGHT THERE. THINK OF IT AS THE LENGTH OF A BIG CAR. BUT DON'T EXPECT ALL CURBS NEAR THOSE CROSSWALKS TO BE PAINTED RED. >> NO, IT WILL NOT BE PAINTED BECAUSE IT'S A STATE LAW NOW. IT'S BASICALLY LIKE A DRIVING RULE. >> SO HOW ARE PEOPLE SUPPOSED TO KNOW? >> WELL, THAT'S PART OF THE THAT'S PART OF THE REASON THAT THAT WE'RE DOING THIS STORY IS TO INCREASE AWARENESS. >> DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT LAW? >> NO, I DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THAT LAW AT ALL. SO I DON'T KNOW ABOUT IT EITHER. >> WE TRIED OUR DARNDEST TO INFORM THE PUBLIC, NOT THAT COURT, BUT IT WOULD BE LIKE, YOU KNOW, 20. SO THAT ACTUALLY LIKE, THERE OKAY. THERE COULDN'T BE THERE. >> IF YOU CAN'T PARK IN WITHIN 20FT OF THE CROSSWALK, IT'S GOING TO MAKE PARKING A LOT MORE DIFFICULT FOR EVERYBODY. >> THAT'S LIKE A TESLA TRUCK. BUT CITY TRAFFIC ENGINEER RICARDO OLIA TOLD US THE STATE IS PRIORITIZING PEDESTRIAN SAFETY OVER PARKING BY KEEPING AWAY FROM THE CROSSWALK, YOU'RE ALLOWING VEHICLES THAT ARE DRIVING TO GET A BETTER VIEW OF PEDESTRIANS THAT MIGHT BE STARTING TO CROSS THE CROSSWALK. THIS IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT FOR CHILDREN. NOW I'M FIVE NINE AND PRETTY VISIBLE, BUT A CHILD IS NOT AND MAY BE MISSED BY A DRIVER. ACCORDING TO THE CALIFORNIA OFFICE OF TRAFFIC SAFETY, CALIFORNIA TRAFFIC DEATHS REACHED A FOUR DECADE HIGH. THE STATE'S PEDESTRIAN FATALITY RATE IS MORE THAN 25, HIGHER THAN THE NATIONAL AVERAGE. IN ORDER TO COMPLY WITH THE NEW LAW, THERE WILL BE SOME CHANGES PARKING METERS, FOR EXAMPLE. >> WE WILL PROACTIVELY GO OUT AND REMOVE THOSE PARKING METERS IN THE COURSE OF THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS. IN THE WORST CASE SCENARIO, IT'S TWO SPACES PER BLOCK. >> AS A RESULT, THERE WILL BE LESS REVENUE FROM PARKING METERS FOR CITIES, THOUGH THE EXACT AMOUNT WAS NOT RESEARCHED BY THE STATE. BUT THE NEW LAW WON'T JUST IMPACT PARKING SPACES, BUSSES THAT START OR END THEIR ROUTE NEAR A CROSSWALK WILL BE MOVED BACK 20FT. I MEAN, WHEN THAT BUS IS PARKED THERE ON THAT CORNER, I CAN'T SEE THE CARS THAT ARE COMING. YEAH IF THERE'S A IF THERE'S A BUS PARK LIKE A TERMINAL, WE WILL WE WILL LOOK AT THOSE TO MAKE SURE THAT WHEN BUSSES ARE PARKED THAT THEY'RE AWAY FROM THE CORNER. >> SO HERE'S ANOTHER QUESTION. >> PARKLETS. THERE ARE RESTAURANTS WITH PARKLETS THAT ARE RIGHT UP AGAINST THE CROSSWALK LIKE THIS ONE. >> THERE IS NO WAY THAT CARS CAN SEE ME AHEAD OF TIME. >> WE DO NEED TO HAVE STRUCTURES AS WELL KEPT AWAY FROM INTERSECTION, AND WE'VE BEEN GRADUALLY DISCUSSING YOU'RE NOT GOING TO BE POPULAR WITH THOSE RESTAURANTS. WE ALREADY HAVING THOSE DISCUSSIONS. SO WE'VE ALREADY BEEN WORKING WITH THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY IN SITUATIONS WHERE THE PARKLET UNDER THE PANDEMIC WAS INSTALLED. TOO CLOSE TO THE INTERSECTION. WE HAVE ACTUALLY ASKED THEM TO MOVE. >> WHILE TAXIS, LYFT AND UBER DRIVERS WON'T BE ALLOWED TO PARK NEAR A CROSSWALK, ANYONE CAN DROP SOMEONE OFF NEAR THE CROSSWALK WITHOUT GETTING TICKETED BY THE WAY, BEGINNING NEXT YEAR, 2025, THE WARNINGS WILL STOP. INSTEAD, CITATIONS WILL BE GIVEN OUT. THE FINE HAS YET TO BE DETERMINED. SO WHAT DO YOU SAY TO PEOPLE THAT THAT CLAIM THAT SAN FRANCISCO IS ANTI-CAR SAN FRANCISCO IS NOT ANTI-CAR, BUT SAN FRANCISCO HAS THE BENEFIT OF HAVING OTHER ALTERNATIVES TO DRIVING, SUCH AS TRANSIT, BIKING, WALKING. BUT AT TIMES, THOSE WHO ARE WALKING ARE ON THEIR PHONES, NOT PAYING ATTENTION WHEN THEY ENTER THE CROSSWALK WALK, THEY HAVE TO TAKE OWNERSHIP TO. PEOPLE ARE DISTRACTED. THEY'RE ON THEIR PHONE. CORRECT CORRECT. >> BUT BECAUSE PEOPLE MAY BE DISTRACTED, WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THE MOTORISTS, WHEN THEY'RE APPROACHING AND THAT THE MOTORIST IS THE ONE THAT HAS THE ABILITY TO SLOW DOWN THEIR THEIR VERY LARGE VEHICLE, THAT THEY CAN SEE THAT THERE'S A PEDESTRIAN THAT MIGHT BE DISTRACTED WALKING IN, THAT THERE MIGHT BE A CHILD THAT'S STARTING TO WALK. WE WILL CONTINUE TO WORK ON THIS, ON THIS ISSUE. IT'S BY NO MEANS SOLVED, BUT WE'RE HOPEFUL THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO MAKE PROGRESS. SO WE WERE TOLD THAT A LOT OF THESE PEDESTRIAN DEATHS HAVE OCCURRED IN THE TEN DE LOIN AND SOMA NEIGHBORHOODS. >> NOW, REMEMBER, AS PART OF VISION ZERO, THE GOAL FOR SAN FRANCISCO AND ANY OTHER CITY IN CALIFORNIA IS TO HAVE ZERO PEDESTRIANS KILLED. NOW, THE HOPE IS THAT THIS NEW LAW WILL HELP WITH THAT VISION. ANOTHER THING THAT I LEARNED IS THAT YOU KNOW, OTHER STATES HAVE THIS RULE, HAVE HAD IT FOR YEARS TO PARK 20FT FROM. >> YES, REALLY. THAT IS INTERESTING. >> SO FOR THEM, IT'S EASY. FOR US. IT'S GOING TO BE HARD. IT'S GOING TO BE, WELL PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT IT. >> THAT'S THE HARD PART. >> YEAH. AND I DO HOPE THAT THEY REMOVE THOSE PARKING METERS QUIC
