Question regarding "J" walking.

[sytfu_RR]

I had conversation with a friend recently about "J" walking. They basically told me that no matter what a car has to yield to a person crossing the street, and if that vehicle hit them it's the drivers fault. However I thought that applied if you were crossing at a marked/unmarked crosswalk, but only if it was safe to do so/or had the correct signal. Meaning you couldn't just jump out into the street. And if you were "J" walking; such as just running across the street in the middle ( not in a marked crosswalk ) or crossing against a red and get hit, if was your own fault. So the question I'm asking is who's fault is it? I'm a bit unclear, Thank you for taking the time to read & stay safe.

[mlatino]

21954. (a) Every pedestrian upon a roadway at any point other than within a marked crosswalk or within an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection shall yield the right-of-way to all vehicles upon the roadway so near as to constitute an immediate hazard.

[Knight]

21954. (a) Every pedestrian upon a roadway at any point other than within a marked crosswalk or within an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection shall yield the right-of-way to all vehicles upon the roadway so near as to constitute an immediate hazard.

This.

Keep in mind also that as soon as a pedestrian steps into a marked crosswalk, they have the right-of-way and you are legally obligated to stop if you have a reasonable amount of time and distance to do so.

[zinfull]

Just a side note. It is only "J" walking if you are crossing between to controlled intersections. The other times it is called crossing the street.

jerry

[juicemansam]

This.

Keep in mind also that as soon as a pedestrian steps into a marked crosswalk, they have the right-of-way and you are legally obligated to stop if you have a reasonable amount of time and distance to do so.

I was just talking to my brother and my friend about crosswalks and when they become occupied or not. I've heard that when a pedestrian steps onto the street from the sidewalk, in between the marked crosswalk, the crosswalk becomes occupied, regardless of which direction they are to you, ie. near you, or at the far end, no matter the number of lanes. Now that would mean that on a 2-lane (2 each way + turn lane, totaling 5 lanes), you can get a ticket for crossing the occupied crosswalk during a right-hand turn because a pedestrian initiated their crossing of the crosswalk at the far end. The way I see it is that if the pedestrian is on your half of the crosswalk, it's occupied, and that if they are on the opposite half, it's reasonable to cross. But of course the law is never reasonable.

My ex-gf once got a ticket for doing a right-hand turn coming out of a school parking lot. The marked crosswalk was to the left of her side of the intersection, and her side had a clearly marked "do not cross/use crosswalk" sign. So when the cross-guard stepped out to stop cross-traffic and allow use of the crosswalk, she took the right-hand turn, away from the crosswalk. When she tried to fight the ticket, they told her that the cross-guard stops all traffic to and from the direction the guard is stopping. Go figure.

With regards to J walking, I hate Fresno. I don't particularly care when people cross where they please when it's not a busy intersection or street, but I have seen people cross against red lights, only to cross again in another direction against a second red light. I've seen people cross diagonally across intersections. Even though we have a "treat a red light like a stop sign for cyclists at a non-busy intersection" allowance, I've seen cyclist treat red-lights like greens or stops signs at busy intersections. And yet it's usually the motorist that gets stopped.