Jaywalking is not fully legal in California. Under the Freedom to Walk Act (Assembly Bill 2147), signed by Governor Newsom on September 30, 2022, and effective January 1, 2023, crossing outside a crosswalk or against a signal remains a traffic infraction, but a police officer cannot stop or cite you unless a reasonably careful person would recognize an immediate danger of collision with a moving vehicle or a human-powered device such as a bicycle.1California Legislative Information. California Vehicle Code AB-2147 Pedestrians
What the Freedom to Walk Act Changed
AB 2147 amended thirteen sections of the California Vehicle Code covering pedestrian crossings at signals, in crosswalks, at mid-block locations, and between controlled intersections. Each amended section carries the same sentence: a peace officer shall not stop a pedestrian for a violation 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.2California Legislative Information. California Vehicle Code 21955
The underlying rules did not disappear. You are still supposed to cross in a crosswalk between two adjacent signalized intersections, obey traffic signals, and yield to vehicles when crossing outside a crosswalk. What changed is the trigger for enforcement. Before AB 2147, an officer could ticket you for crossing against a signal on an empty street at 2 a.m. Now that stop is not permitted.
When Police Can Still Ticket You
The test is objective. It does not depend on whether you personally felt safe. If oncoming traffic was close enough that a cautious person in your position would see the risk, the stop is lawful and a citation can follow.3California Legislative Information. California Vehicle Code 21950
The vehicles and devices covered are broad: cars, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, skateboards, and similar traffic. The statute does not carve out separate exceptions for poor visibility, school zones, or on-ramps. The same immediate-danger standard governs every situation, though in practice crossing a high-speed road in fog will satisfy that standard easily because a reasonably careful person would recognize the risk.
A base jaywalking fine runs around $196, and mandatory state fees and court assessments push the real cost significantly higher.
Your Duties as a Pedestrian Haven’t Gone Away
This is where people misread the law. AB 2147 restricts police enforcement. It does not eliminate your legal obligations. Every amended section states that the restriction does not relieve a pedestrian from using due care for their own safety, and does not relieve a driver from exercising due care for pedestrians.2California Legislative Information. California Vehicle Code 21955
Vehicle Code Section 21954 still requires any pedestrian on a roadway outside a marked or unmarked crosswalk to yield the right-of-way to all vehicles close enough to create an immediate hazard.4California Legislative Information. California Vehicle Code 21954 Between two adjacent intersections that both have traffic signals, you are still required to cross only in a crosswalk.2California Legislative Information. California Vehicle Code 21955 The Freedom to Walk Act makes it unlikely you will be stopped during a safe crossing, but the rule itself remains law, and it matters if you are hit by a car.
If You’re Hit While Crossing Outside a Crosswalk
The Freedom to Walk Act changed enforcement, not civil liability. The fact that an officer could not have stopped you does not mean you were free of fault in a collision. California uses pure comparative negligence, established in Li v. Yellow Cab Co. (1975), which assigns liability in direct proportion to each party’s negligence.5Justia Law. Li v. Yellow Cab Co. If a jury finds you 30% responsible for crossing mid-block without checking traffic, your recovery drops by 30%.
Civil Code Section 1714 reinforces the point: everyone is responsible for injuries caused by their failure to use ordinary care, and a person who contributed to their own injury bears proportional responsibility.6California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1714 Section 21954’s yield rule becomes a key factor in that fault calculation.4California Legislative Information. California Vehicle Code 21954
Drivers do not get a free pass. Vehicle Code Section 21950 requires drivers to exercise all due care for pedestrian safety, and that duty applies even when the pedestrian is somewhere they arguably should not be.3California Legislative Information. California Vehicle Code 21950 A driver who sees a pedestrian mid-block and could have slowed but did not will share fault regardless of whether the pedestrian was jaywalking.
Why the Law Was Passed
AB 2147 came out of concerns about how jaywalking enforcement was being applied. Data cited during the legislative process showed Black Californians were roughly 4.3 times more likely to be stopped for jaywalking than white residents, and the stops often functioned as pretextual encounters that escalated into searches or use-of-force incidents. The legislature concluded that strict enforcement of technical crossing violations did not justify those costs when most crossings outside a crosswalk pose no danger.
What Happens Next
AB 2147 added one new section, Vehicle Code Section 21949.5, requiring the Commissioner of the California Highway Patrol to submit a report to the legislature on or before January 1, 2028. The report must analyze statewide pedestrian crash data and evaluate whether the Freedom to Walk Act has affected traffic safety, prepared in consultation with the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California.7California Legislative Information. California Vehicle Code 21949.5
Section 21949.5 is scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2032, once the report has served its purpose. The enforcement restrictions inserted into the other thirteen Vehicle Code sections are permanent amendments with no expiration date. Rolling them back would require new legislation.