California · Through 2026-09-13

VEH § 21956

(a) A pedestrian shall not walk upon a roadway outside of a business or residence district otherwise than close to the pedestrian’s left-hand edge of the roadway.
(b) A pedestrian may walk close to their right-hand edge of the roadway if a crosswalk or other means of safely crossing the roadway is not available or if existing traffic or other conditions would compromise the safety of a pedestrian attempting to cross the road.
(c) (1) A peace officer, as defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2 of the Penal Code, shall not stop a pedestrian for a violation of this section unless a reasonably careful person would realize there is an immediate danger of a collision with a moving vehicle or other device moving exclusively by human power.
(2) This subdivision does not relieve a pedestrian from the duty of using due care for their safety.
(3) This subdivision does not relieve a driver of a vehicle from the duty of exercising due care for the safety of any pedestrian within the roadway.

Where this section sits in the code

Vehicle Code - VEH
DIVISION 11. RULES OF THE ROAD [21000. - 23336.]
CHAPTER 5. Pedestrians’ Rights and Duties [21949. - 21971.]

(a) A pedestrian shall not walk upon a roadway outside of a business or residence district otherwise than close to the pedestrian’s left-hand edge of the roadway.

(b) A pedestrian may walk close to their right-hand edge of the roadway if a crosswalk or other means of safely crossing the roadway is not available or if existing traffic or other conditions would compromise the safety of a pedestrian attempting to cross the road.

(c) (1) A peace officer, as defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2 of the Penal Code, shall not stop a pedestrian for a violation of this section unless a reasonably careful person would realize there is an immediate danger of a collision with a moving vehicle or other device moving exclusively by human power.

(2) This subdivision does not relieve a pedestrian from the duty of using due care for their safety.

(3) This subdivision does not relieve a driver of a vehicle from the duty of exercising due care for the safety of any pedestrian within the roadway.

Collected 2026-09-14T05:56:33Z. Source file · JSON

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