Pedestrian Crosswalk Rights

Not jaywalking. It used to be that you had to cross at a crosswalk AND wait for traffic to be clear. The crosswalk was the place to cross to make sure people weren't crossing at any place they choose. But now that there are laws that require you to stop at any crosswalk with a pedestrian in it, people are crossing and they expect the cars to stop, but not every driver is in tune with this, especially those from outside the city, and it creates a dangerous situation.

It irritates me when people press the crosswalk button on quiet roads (where most of the time there is nothing coming, so you can just cross) before they have even looked to see if anything is coming. Most of the time they then cross immediately and the traffic light will go red some time after they have already crossed, holding up both cars and pedestrians coming behind (who might get there shortly before the traffic light goes green again, so have to wait for that and then wait for the accumul

Where I live in the US, people simply do not stop at pedestrian crosswalks. It doesn’t matter that there’s a large fluorescent sign, and bold white stripes on the road, and a person waiting to cross. I’ve even had a police officer drive straight through while I was waiting to cross.But it seems like they’re respected if you install large flashing lights that the pedestrian can activate.

We have crosswalks without intersections, or without signals, as well as traditional crosswalks at lights with signals and walk signs. I am talking about the ones in the middle of a road with no signals at all. I am not blaming the pedestrians, I am the pedestrian a lot of the time. But blaming half the people for not stopping means that something is wrong. If there are laws that most people do not follow or have trouble following then you need to re-examine the law, no matter who is to blame. I

Easy, the pedestrian had to cross sometime, and they couldn't predict which of the many lanes the car would move into.

Don't forget the "pedestrian right-of-way" law.

In Barcelona, where I used to live, you never have to think about cars if you are a pedestrian. There are two kinds of crosswalks. Those with traffic lights and those without and they're marked differently. In both cases, you never have to look if there's a car coming. If it's green, you simply cross. At the crosswalks without a traffic light, the drivers must slow down and anticipate your decision while they see you near the first sidewalk about to cross. They have to let you go

Not if there isn't a crosswalk.

Same where I am in the US. If they are in the crosswalk they still have right of way.In my area they have special blinking lights near crosswalks by heavy traffic areas. You press a button to walk and it comes on instantly, speed limit is only 35 mph. There is also a special pedestrian only red light button for major road crossings. No cars use the light and it only turns on for people walking.

“Jaywalking” is rarely enforced in most places, even if it is a law at all, so yes you can probably cross anywhere you want. That doesn’t mean traffic will yield for you when waiting to cross, which is what we’re discussing here. Definitely look both ways before crossing in the US; drivers don’t expect pedestrians to randomly appear in the middle of the street.