Pedestrians outside crosswalks — District of Columbia Permit Test

If a pedestrian crosses outside a crosswalk, the pedestrian does not have the right-of-way, but the driver must still yield to them.

Hitting someone who crossed in the wrong place hurts them just as badly, so the driver still has to stop.

Though the pedestrian does not have the right-of-way in these instances, the driver must always yield to pedestrians in these instances.

Where a pedestrian tunnel or overhead crossing is provided, a pedestrian who crosses the roadway instead must yield to approaching vehicles, though the driver still has the responsibility to yield to pedestrians.

Drivers near a footbridge do not expect anyone on the road below it, so the walker has to wait for a gap.

If a pedestrian crosses a roadway at a point where a pedestrian tunnel or overhead is provided, the pedestrian shall yield the right-of-way to vehicles approaching on the roadway.

Between adjacent intersections where traffic signals operate, a pedestrian may cross only in a marked crosswalk or after yielding the right-of-way to any approaching vehicle.

Between two signals traffic moves in steady streams, and a walker stepping out mid-block meets cars that have no light telling them to stop.

Between adjacent intersections, at which a traffic control signal is in operation, a pedestrian may cross a roadway only in a marked crosswalk or after yielding the right-of-way to any vehicle approaching on the roadway.

A pedestrian crosses mid-block, away from any crosswalk. What must you do?

Yield to the pedestrian anyway. Hitting someone who crossed in the wrong place hurts them just as badly, so the driver still has to stop. DC Driver Manual, p.62: “Though the pedestrian does not have the right-of-way in these instances, the driver must always yield to pedestrians in these instances.”