Surf, Sun, and Driving in San Diego

Driving in San Diego can be a safe and entertaining experience

One of the many beautiful views of San Diego.

San Diego is the last large city on Interstate 5 before you reach Mexico. The weather is gorgeous all year long, they have beautiful beaches, tons of stuff to keep you entertained, and some very entertaining driving laws.

But aside from the entertainment, driving in San Diego is fairly safe. For the huge population they have in that area and hours of rush hour traffic they see, you would think things would be a little more dangerous than they are in terms of car accidents.

Interesting San Diego Driving Laws

Driving laws are created to protect us, but there are just some that make you scratch your head when you read the actual wording of the law. For example:

If there is a sign stating that the road is closed or no one is to drive on the road, it is illegal for you to do so. Oh by the way, per San Diego municipal code 84.02 you aren’t allowed to drive or ride an animal on these roads either.

This one was too good not to share word for word:

“Vehicles on Private Property

(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to operate or drive or leave any vehicle in, over, or upon any private property without the written permission of the owner thereof, or the person entitled to the immediate possession thereof, or the authorized agent of either.

(b) Whenever any person is stopped by a peace officer pursuant to this section, he or she shall, upon the request of such peace officer, display said written permission.”

Don’t forget to keep that written permission with your vehicle registration, your driver’s license, and your insurance verification. And don’t think you can get out of it by hanging your vehicle “over” that private property.

San Diego County Crash Statistics

In 2011, San Diego County car accidents resulted in 200 fatalities for the entire county. For being a county with a population of 3.1 million that is an excellent statistic. Of these 200 fatalities 66 of them were due to a driver with a BAC of .08 or higher and 83 of these fatalities were a result of a vehicle driving faster than the speed limit.

Other crash fatality statistics in 2011:

• 11 Bicyclists
• 42 Pedestrians
• 47 Motorcyclists

Of all the vehicles involved in fatal accidents, the majority of them (127) were single vehicle accidents

San Diego Car Insurance Requirements

If you cause a car accident like one of the ones above, you had better hope that you have enough insurance to cover the expenses you have become liable for. While the state requires that you don’t have to carry any more than 15/30/5* in liability coverage, these minimums don’t even come close to paying for the expenses you will be responsible for if you cause a fatality.

Any expenses that are remaining after you have maxed out these low insurance limits are your personal responsibility.

There are also no additional San Diego insurance requirements that drivers have to be worried about having, as the State of California handles the insurance rules and regulations for the entire state.

*$15,000 in bodily liability injury coverage for one person you injure or kill, $30,000 total for the injuries or fatality of two or more people, and $5,000 in property damage coverage.