A woman sleeps in her car in Los Angeles (Credit: Mark Ralstone/AFP/Getty Images)
The Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday in favor of drafting an ordinance that would prohibit people from sleeping in their cars between 9pm and 6am if they’re parked in residential neighborhoods.
The vote was nearly unanimous, with 10 in support, one in opposition and three absent, according to LAist.
Similiar attemps by lawmakers to regulate sleeping in cars have been unsuccessful. In 2014, an appeals court struck down a city ban on living in cars, trucks or RVs parked on public streets. The 9th Circuit judges ruled that the ban was “unconstitutionally vague” and promoted “arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement.”
The upcoming ordinance would specifically designate certain industrial and commercial districts as permitted sleeping areas.
Proponents of the ban include residents who object to the sight of run-down cars and RVs parked in their quiet neighborhoods, which they say encourage crime and litter on the roads, according to the LAist. [LAist] — Cathaleen Chen