Celebrating a huge win as the SFMTA kicks off painting ‘daylighting’ at every intersection

What if there were a simple, inexpensive way to prevent up to 1 in 3 crashes at intersections – and San Francisco added it to every single intersection?

That’s what’s happening, and it’s a huge win for safer streets.

Last Monday, Walk SF joined District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, the SFMTA, community groups, and neighbors to celebrate the start of SFMTA’s crews painting what’s called ‘daylighting’ at all intersections by the end of 2026, starting with District 5. 

Daylighting ensures clear sightlines for all road users and reduces traffic crashes by up to 30%. Learn more about daylighting. 

San Francisco has already been adding daylighting to many dangerous intersections, including now nearly all high-injury streets. But a 2023 state law means that it’s now illegal for all California drivers to park within 20 feet of any marked or unmarked crosswalk at the corners where their vehicle faces the crosswalk. 

However, most drivers still don’t know about this state law. That’s why the Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a resolution last winter urging the SFMTA to mark all daylighting zones with red paint so that drivers know not to park there, and ‘daylighting’ can do its job making everyone safer.  

The SFMTA has committed to do this citywide by the end of 2026, which Walk SF applauds. The SFMTA paint crew just completed all school zones – which is great news with school starting in less than two weeks. Now it’s onto the rest of the city, starting in District 5.

At the intersection of Broderick and Hayes last week, it wasn’t just the paint crew that got to add some red to the curbs. 

John Alex Lowell, who has been hit twice as a pedestrian in San Francisco and arrived at the celebration on crutches, got to help. Leaning on an SFMTA paint crew member, John Alex got to paint one of the curbs. Even Zoey the Zebra, our mascot for safe intersections, got to help!

We want to extend a special thank you to the SFMTA paint crew for working so fast to make intersections safer and to District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood for championing daylighting and traffic safety all-around. 

Learn more about our ‘I Love Safe Intersections’ campaign here!