Crossing The Road
Va. Code 46.2-924 — the driver stops for a pedestrian in the lane or the next one over, and an officer may not stop a pedestrian over where they crossed
The driver stops. The driver of any vehicle on a highway stops when a pedestrian crossing the highway is within the driver's lane, or within an adjacent lane and approaching it, and stays stopped until the pedestrian has passed the lane the vehicle is stopped in.
- At any clearly marked crosswalk, whether at midblock or at the end of a block.
- At any regular pedestrian crossing in the prolongation of the lateral boundary lines of the adjacent sidewalk at the end of a block.
- At any intersection, when the driver is approaching on a highway where the speed limit is not more than 35 miles per hour.
Those are the three places the stopping rule names. Where law enforcement officers or traffic control devices are regulating traffic, the driver yields as the officer or device directs instead. While a vehicle is stopped for a pedestrian, the driver of any other vehicle approaching from an adjacent lane or from behind does not overtake and pass it.
Turning drivers. Pedestrians crossing highways at intersections at all times have the right of way over vehicles making turns into the highways being crossed. Drivers entering, crossing or turning at intersections change course, slow down or stop if necessary to let pedestrians cross safely and expeditiously. And no pedestrian enters or crosses an intersection in disregard of approaching traffic.
How and where a pedestrian crosses. Pedestrians do not carelessly or maliciously interfere with the orderly passage of vehicles, and they cross, wherever possible, only at intersections or marked crosswalks. Where an intersection has no marked crosswalk, a pedestrian is not guilty of negligence as a matter of law for crossing at the intersection, or between intersections, by the most direct route.
No stop for it. No law enforcement officer stops a pedestrian for a violation of the section on how and where pedestrians cross. No evidence discovered or obtained as the result of a stop that violates that rule, including evidence obtained with the person's consent, is admissible in any trial, hearing or other proceeding.
The penalty. A violation of the stopping rule is a traffic infraction, except that a violation resulting in serious bodily injury to, or the death of, a vulnerable road user lawfully crossing a highway is a Class 1 misdemeanor.
Local crosswalk signs. Arlington County, Fairfax County, Loudoun County and any town in them, the City of Alexandria, the City of Fairfax, the City of Falls Church and the Town of Ashland may by ordinance install signs at marked crosswalks requiring drivers to yield to or stop for pedestrians there. Not complying with one is a traffic infraction punishable by a fine of no less than $100 or more than $500.
Crossings at a working signal follow the signal, under sections that are not on this page. Who was at fault in a particular collision, and what a particular ticket means, are questions for a licensed Virginia attorney.
Sources for this section (2)
- Va. Code 46.2-924 — Drivers to stop for pedestrians; installation of certain signs; penalties
- Va. Code 46.2-923 — How and where pedestrians to cross highways
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Virginia attorney.