What do the colored curbs mean in San Diego?
Red is never, yellow is loading, white is dropping people off, green is a short time limit and blue is disabled parking only. The colors are set by state law but the hours and limits are local — read the sign.
- The statute
- CVC 21458
- Fire hydrant
- 15 feet
- Disabled space
- $451
Five colors, five meanings
CVC 22514
City of San Diego citation
The short version
- Vehicle Code 21458 fixes five curb colors and their meanings: red, yellow, white, green and blue.
- The colors only apply where a local authority has painted them, and the days, hours and time limits come from local ordinance — which is why the sign beats the paint.
- You must stay 15 feet clear of a fire hydrant under Vehicle Code 22514.
- Parking in a disabled space without a placard carries a statutory minimum fine of $250, but the City of San Diego citation is $451.
- In San Diego, street sweeping is only enforceable where signs are posted; unposted routes carry no restriction.
California standardizes curb colors in Vehicle Code 21458, which opens with an important qualifier: "Whenever local authorities enact local parking regulations and indicate them by the use of paint upon curbs, the following colors only shall be used." The colors are statewide. What they mean in practice on a given block is not.
The five colors
| Color | What the statute says |
|---|---|
| Red | No stopping, standing or parking, attended or unattended — except a bus at a marked bus zone |
| Yellow | Stopping only to load or unload passengers or freight, for the time specified by local ordinance |
| White | Stopping only to load or unload passengers, or to deposit mail in an adjacent mailbox |
| Green | Time-limit parking, the limit specified by local ordinance |
| Blue | Parking limited exclusively to vehicles of disabled persons and disabled veterans |
Vehicle Code section 21458(a).
The paint does not tell you the hours
Subdivision (b) is the one people miss: these regulations "shall be effective on days and during hours or times as prescribed by local ordinances." Green and yellow explicitly defer their limits to local ordinance. So a green curb might be 15 minutes in one city and two hours in another, and a yellow zone might only be a loading zone on weekday mornings.
The City of San Diego's own guidance is blunt about the consequence: "Be aware of signage when you park. Read all signs." The paint tells you the category. The sign tells you the rule.
Hydrants
Vehicle Code 22514 sets the clearance at 15 feet from a fire hydrant. There are narrow exceptions — a licensed driver seated in the front seat who can move the car immediately, a local ordinance reducing the distance where signs or markings say so, and marked fire department vehicles. In San Diego the hydrant citation is currently $115.50.
Blue curbs are the expensive one
Vehicle Code 22507.8 makes it unlawful to park in a disabled space without the required placard or plates, to block access to one, or — even with a valid placard — to park on the crosshatched loading area beside one. It applies to public and private lots alike.
Street sweeping
This is the citation that catches residents rather than visitors, and the rule is simpler than people assume: no sign, no violation. The City states that some routes are posted with signs giving the day and time, that parking is prohibited for the entire posted period, and that unposted routes "have no signs and have no parking restrictions" — residents are merely asked to move voluntarily. The citation where signs are posted is currently $83.50.
SOURCES
Everything above traces back to one of these. Follow them — if one has changed and we haven't, that's our mistake, not yours.
- PrimaryVehicle Code section 21458
California Legislature, via Justia
The five curb colours and the local-ordinance qualifier
- PrimaryVehicle Code section 22514
California Legislature, via Public.Law
15 feet from a fire hydrant, and the exceptions
- PrimaryVehicle Code section 22507.8
California Legislature, via Public.Law
Disabled parking prohibitions, including the crosshatched area
California Legislature, via FindLaw
$250 minimum first-offence fine for disabled parking
City of San Diego
Disabled parking $451.00; fire hydrant $115.50; street sweeping $83.50
- PrimaryStreet Sweeping
City of San Diego
Only posted routes carry a parking restriction
- PrimaryParking Enforcement
City of San Diego
Read all signs; posted street sweeping days prohibit parking for the posted period