Crosswalks
Drivers and pedestrians both need to respect the laws when it comes to safely navigating crosswalks.
Driver Responsibilities
Virginia Code Section 46.2-924 in relevant part:
A. The driver of any vehicle on a highway shall yield the right-of-way to any pedestrian crossing such highway by stopping and remaining stopped until such pedestrian has passed the lane in which the vehicle is stopped:
1. At any clearly marked crosswalk, whether at midblock or at the end of any block;
2. At any regular pedestrian crossing included in the prolongation of the lateral boundary lines of the adjacent sidewalk at the end of a block; or
3. At any intersection when the driver is approaching on a highway where the speed limit is not more than 35 miles per hour.
- [This section of state code applies to all intersections on VCU’s campuses.]
B. When a vehicle is stopped pursuant to subsection A, the driver of any other vehicle approaching from an adjacent lane or from behind the stopped vehicle shall not overtake and pass such stopped vehicle.
C. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection A, at intersections or crosswalks where the movement of traffic is being regulated by law-enforcement officers or traffic control devices, the driver shall yield according to the direction of the law-enforcement officer or device.
No pedestrian shall enter or cross an intersection in disregard of approaching traffic.
The drivers of vehicles entering, crossing, or turning at intersections shall change their course, slow down, or stop if necessary to permit pedestrians to cross such intersections safely and expeditiously.
Pedestrians crossing highways at intersections shall at all times have the right-of-way over vehicles making turns into the highways being crossed by the pedestrians.
E. Where a shared-use path crosses a highway at a clearly marked crosswalk and there are no traffic control signals at such crossing, the local governing body may by ordinance require pedestrians, cyclists, and any other users of such shared-used path to come to a complete stop prior to entering such crosswalk. Such local ordinance may provide for a fine not to exceed $100 for violations...At such crosswalks, no user of such shared-use path shall enter the crosswalk in disregard of approaching traffic.
Pedestrian Responsibilities
Virginia Code section 46.2-923
... pedestrians shall not carelessly or maliciously interfere with the orderly passage of vehicles. They shall cross, wherever possible, only at intersections or marked crosswalks.
Per Va. Code § 46.2-926, pedestrians are prohibited from stepping into a highway open to moving vehicular traffic at any point between intersections where their presence would be obscured from the vision of drivers of approaching vehicles by a vehicle or other obstruction at the curb or side. This prohibition does not apply to a pedestrian stepping into a highway to board a bus or to enter a safety zone, in which event they must cross the highway only at right angles.