Will new California law make it legal for pedestrians to jaywalk? Here are the details

Starting Jan. 1, Californians won’t get stopped for jaywalking — if it’s safe to do so.

The rules surrounding crossing streets and roadways outside of a designated cross point or jaywalking will be softened. Meaning, it’ll still be illegal, said personal injury attorney Justin Ward, it just won’t be as heavily enforced.

Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed Assembly Bill 2147 or the “Freedom To Walk” Act, first introduced in 2018, by Assemblymember Phil Ting, D-San Francisco. The upcoming law decriminalizes walking outside of a designated crossing point starting Jan. 1, unless there’s an immediate danger between the pedestrian and a vehicle.

“It doesn’t mean it’s OK to do it,” said Ward with The Ward Firm in Sacramento “it just means you won’t be cited for it.”

Here’s what you need to know about the current jaywalking law in California and how it will change next year, plus why the law was reevaluated:

What is the current law on jaywalking in California?

Currently, pedestrians can be arrested without a warrant for entering roadways and crosswalks “except under specified circumstances.” They’re given a moving violation — an infraction — with a fine roughly $200, plus court costs.

Before 2018, it was a crime to cross the street when the countdown meter was flashing.

What the new jaywalking law means for Californians

AB 2147 will soon prohibit an officer from “stopping a pedestrian for specified traffic infractions unless a reasonably careful person would realize there is an immediate danger of collision with a moving vehicle or other device moving exclusively by human power.”

Ward puts this in simpler terms: You can’t get stopped or ticketed unless it’s clear your jaywalking is a hazard.

The upcoming law change doesn’t mean both pedestrians and drivers should stop looking out for the safety of one another. In fact, it means everyone should become extra vigilant.

“More people may decide it’s okay to jaywalk now,” Ward said. “So drivers definitely have to be more alert.”

Once the law goes into effect on Jan. 1, California officials will have up to 2028, according to AB 2147, to evaluate pedestrian-related traffic collision data to determine how the new law has impacted walker safety.

Who is at fault if a driver hits a jaywalker?

Collisions involving jaywalkers will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

“The fact that a vehicle hits a pedestrian,” Ward said, “there’s a whole lot of factors that come into play to determine who is at fault.”

For example, if a pedestrian steps into an intersection during flowing traffic and is hit by a vehicle, Ward said the pedestrian is at fault. If the driver could have prevented it and was distracted by something like their cell phone, they could also be at fault.

Remember: If a pedestrian is crossing a roadway without the proper signal to do so, the law will soon mean they might not get cited— not that they won’t be at fault in an accident. Both pedestrians and motorists must continue to lawfully yield the right-of-way to one another and follow the rules of the road.

“AB 2147 only changes when an officer can write a jaywalking ticket,” said Ting’s spokeswoman Nannette Miranda in an October email to The Bee.

“So, when there’s an accident/collision, the law has not changed. It’s the same as it is today. You call the cops, they take statements, write a report, investigate, etc.”

Sacramento’s history with jaywalking

AB 2147 is Ting’s second attempt, his office wrote in a September statement, to legalize jaywalking in California to curb unfair fines and potentially aggressive police stops.

In Sacramento, jaywalking has ended violently for some residents.

The city of Sacramento settled a $550,000 federal lawsuit in 2018, The Bee previously reported, after a police officer threw a resident to the ground and beat them for challenging the premise of a jaywalking stop.

“Jaywalking is arbitrarily enforced throughout California,” Ting’s office wrote in a statement “with tickets disproportionately given to people of color and lower-income individuals who cannot afford tickets.”

The law goes into effect Jan. 1.

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