The 2023 law aims to improve street safety by making it easier to see pedestrians, since parking right up against a crosswalk blocks the view drivers have of people entering or approaching intersections. The law applies at all intersections, including those without painted crosswalks, as well as mid-block crosswalks. Cities were allowed to start writing tickets for violations on Jan. 1.

Instead of writing tickets, city spokesman Matthai Chakko said officials are encouraging drivers to comply with the law voluntarily.

“The most important thing is not about citations and tickets, but safety,” Chakko wrote in an email. “Avoiding parking within daylighting zones helps fellow motorists to uphold one of their principle responsibilities: yielding to pedestrians at a sidewalk. It improves their own line of vision as well as that of fellow drivers.”