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Crossing the Street

Pedestrian cross walk

Many crosswalks in California have signs like these now that, in theory, remind drivers to stop and not run over you. Clearly this sign (at the Target store in Sunnyvale, California) has seen better days at it appears a driver was so attentive that they ran the sign over. Perhaps flashing LEDs embedded in the road would help.

The “state law” in question is from the California Vehicle Code, specifically section 21950(a) which states as follows:

“The driver of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within any marked crosswalk or within any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, except as otherwise provided in this chapter.”

In my experience, though, a lot of pedestrians forget section 29150(b) which states that:

“This section does not relieve a pedestrian from the duty of using due care for his or her safety. No pedestrian may suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or run in to the path of a vehicle that is so close as to constitute an immediate hazard. No pedestrian may unnecessarily stop or delay traffic while in a marked or unmarked crosswalk.

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Andy Chen

Andy I. Chen is a lawyer licensed to practice law in California and New York. Andy maintains offices in Los Altos, California and Modesto, California. Under the New York Court of Appeals' 2015 decision in Schoenefeld v. State of New York, Andy does not accept cases from those in New York state. He does, however, know many lawyers in New York state and would be happy to make a referral.

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