What’s wrong with sleeping in your car?

There’s a lot that’s redundant in the "homeless bill of rights" measure that passed its first committee hearing on Saturday, in terms of legal protections that homeless people already have.

State Sen. Willie Espero, one of the sponsors of Senate Bill 1014, on Monday defended the measure as being largely symbolic, but there is actually one plank among the 12 "guarantees" that would be a desirable reform: "the right to sleep in a legally parked automobile; provided that the automobile is properly registered, licensed, safety inspected, and insured."

Right now state law precludes anyone, homeless or not, from sleeping in their vehicle "while the vehicle is parked on any roadway, street, or highway or other public property between the hours of 6 p.m. and 6 a.m."

Espero speculated that law probably is enforced selectively, but it’s a law nevertheless, and we agree it should be changed to allow people to sleep in their cars.

We’re open to suggestions on how that could be allowed without creating a public nuisance.