Crosswalk Accidents: Pedestrian Right-of-Way in Georgia

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When a driver hits a pedestrian in a crosswalk, fault is measured by Georgia’s crosswalk rules, and they assign duties to both sides. A driver must stop and remain stopped for a pedestrian in a crosswalk within the statute’s limits, must not pass a vehicle that has stopped for one, and must stop at a pedestrian-control signal that shows WALK. A pedestrian who has the right of way still owes ordinary care for personal safety, and that duty goes to the jury. The result is that a driver’s statutory violation and the pedestrian’s own conduct are weighed together where the evidence supports both, under a fault rule that bars recovery only at 50 percent or more.

Where the Driver’s Duty to Stop Applies

The governing rule is OCGA 40-6-91(a): “The driver of a vehicle shall stop and remain stopped to allow a pedestrian to cross the roadway within a crosswalk when the pedestrian is upon the half of the roadway upon which the vehicle is traveling, or when the pedestrian is approaching and is within one lane of the half of the roadway on which the vehicle is traveling or onto which it is turning.” For that purpose, “half of the roadway” means “all traffic lanes carrying traffic in one direction of travel.”

A crosswalk is defined in OCGA 40-1-1(10) as either “[t]hat part of a roadway at an intersection included within the connections of the lateral lines of the sidewalks on opposite sides of the highway measured from the curbs or in the absence of curbs, from the edges of the traversable roadway,” or “[a]ny portion of a roadway at an intersection or elsewhere distinctly indicated for pedestrian crossing by lines or other markings on the surface.” The first definition describes an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection. An “intersection” is “the area embraced within the prolongation or connection of the lateral curb lines, or, if none, then the lateral boundary lines of the roadways of two highways which join one another at, or approximately at, right angles, or the area within which vehicles traveling upon different highways joining at any other angle may come in conflict” (OCGA 40-1-1(22)(A)). Whether a particular crossing falls within either definition is a question about the location, not a rule that a crosswalk exists wherever two roads meet.

At a signal, OCGA 40-6-22 adds a separate duty. Where special pedestrian-control signals are in place, a WALK signal means that “[p]edestrians facing such signal may proceed across the roadway in the direction of the signal,” and “[e]very driver of a vehicle shall stop and remain stopped for such pedestrians.”

Passing a Vehicle Stopped for a Pedestrian

OCGA 40-6-91(d) provides: “Whenever any vehicle is stopped at a marked crosswalk or at any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection to permit a pedestrian to cross the roadway, the driver of any other vehicle approaching from the rear shall not overtake and pass such stopped vehicle.” In Torres v. Tandy Corp., 264 Ga. App. 686 (2003), a driver who drove through an intersection although several cars to the driver’s left had stopped was held negligent per se under that subsection. The court still affirmed a defense verdict, because there was evidence that the pedestrian left a place of temporary safety without looking and with the signal against the pedestrian: “Negligence per se is not liability per se. Negligence per se is actionable negligence only where it is the proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injuries. Proximate cause is for the jury to decide.”

What the Pedestrian Must Still Do

The pedestrian’s duties are also statutory. “No pedestrian shall suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or run into the path of a vehicle which is so close that it is impractical for the driver to yield” (OCGA 40-6-91(b)). A pedestrian crossing “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 unless he has already, and under safe conditions, entered the roadway” (OCGA 40-6-92(a)).

Gaffron v. Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, 229 Ga. App. 426 (1997), decided under earlier versions of the signal statutes, shows how the two sets of duties fit. The pedestrian pushed the signal button, waited for WALK, and entered the crosswalk. The Court of Appeals held that the statutes granting the right of way “do not abrogate a pedestrian’s duties to exercise ordinary care for her own safety and avoid the consequences of any negligence on the part of others,” and that “the law does not … relieve a pedestrian who has the right of way from all duty to exercise ordinary care for her own safety or to avoid the negligence of a vehicle driver, if it is possible to do so, once it becomes apparent or should have become apparent to her.” Those questions were for the jury. But the court also held that instructions on the “dart out” provision (OCGA 40-6-91(b)), on OCGA 40-6-92(a), and on assumption of the risk did not fit the evidence, because the pedestrian “had ‘already and under safe conditions entered the roadway'” and “was crossing the street in a crosswalk in accordance with the pedestrian-control signal.” It reversed, holding the charges “constituted reversible error.”

The Driver’s Duty on Any Roadway

OCGA 40-6-93 applies “[n]otwithstanding other provisions of this chapter”: “every driver of a vehicle shall exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian upon any roadway, shall give warning by sounding his horn when necessary, and shall exercise proper precautions upon observing any child or any obviously confused, incapacitated, or intoxicated person.”

Situation Rule Statute
Pedestrian in a marked crosswalk or an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection Driver stops and remains stopped, within the half-of-the-roadway limits OCGA 40-6-91(a)
Pedestrian facing a WALK signal Driver stops and remains stopped OCGA 40-6-22(1)
Vehicle stopped for a pedestrian Vehicle approaching from the rear may not overtake and pass OCGA 40-6-91(d)
Pedestrian steps suddenly into the path of a vehicle too close to yield Prohibited OCGA 40-6-91(b)
Pedestrian crossing elsewhere Yields to vehicles unless already, and under safe conditions, in the roadway OCGA 40-6-92(a)
Any roadway Driver exercises due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian OCGA 40-6-93

Shared Fault

The driver’s violation and the pedestrian’s conduct are weighed together: the pedestrian’s damages are reduced by the pedestrian’s percentage of fault, and a pedestrian 50 percent or more responsible recovers nothing (OCGA 51-12-33).

For example, imagine a pedestrian who starts across a four-lane street in the crosswalk on a WALK signal. Midway the signal changes to DON’T WALK, and the pedestrian continues toward the far curb, as the signal statute directs. A driver turning onto that street from the cross street strikes the pedestrian in the lane nearest the turning car. The crosswalk rule applies to a pedestrian on, or approaching within one lane of, the half of the roadway onto which a driver is turning, the pedestrian had begun on WALK, and the driver also owed due care toward any pedestrian on the roadway (OCGA 40-6-91(a); OCGA 40-6-22; OCGA 40-6-93). Whether the pedestrian could have seen and avoided the turning car is the kind of question Gaffron left to the jury.

Frequently Asked Questions

What if the signal changes to DON’T WALK while the pedestrian is in the street?
No pedestrian may start to cross on DON’T WALK, but a pedestrian “who has partially completed his crossing on the WALK signal shall proceed to sidewalk or safety island while the DON’T WALK signal is showing” (OCGA 40-6-22).

May a pedestrian cross mid-block between two signals?
No. Between adjacent intersections at which traffic-control signals are in operation, pedestrians “shall not cross at any place except in a marked crosswalk” (OCGA 40-6-92(c)).

May a pedestrian cross an intersection diagonally?
Only when official traffic-control devices authorize it, and then only as those devices direct (OCGA 40-6-92(d)).

How is assumption of the risk different from a pedestrian’s own negligence?
In Gaffron, the Court of Appeals explained that assumption of risk “is a matter of knowledge of the danger and intelligent acquiescence in it, while contributory negligence is a matter of some fault or departure from the standard of reasonable conduct.”

  • OCGA 40-6-91(a), (b), (d); OCGA 40-6-92(a), (c), (d); OCGA 40-6-93; OCGA 40-6-22
  • OCGA 40-1-1(10), (22)(A)
  • Torres v. Tandy Corp., 264 Ga. App. 686 (2003); Gaffron v. Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, 229 Ga. App. 426, 494 S.E.2d 54 (1997)
  • OCGA 51-12-33

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about pedestrian and crosswalk claims under Georgia law. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Fault depends on the location, any signal, and the specific facts. A pedestrian injured in a crosswalk should consult a licensed Georgia attorney about the particular situation.

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