Arlington County, VA Public Conduct: Jaywalking (2026)

, is the county's operative pedestrian-conduct provision, and it is narrower than a classic jaywalking ordinance. Subsection A requires pedestrians to obey signs and signals erected on County highways and streets for the direction and control of travel and traffic, and to obey the orders of police officers engaged in directing traffic. 1). Subsection B clarifies that ordinary pedestrian traffic is controlled by that duty to obey signs and officers, except where a dedicated pedestrian control signal governs the crossing instead. The section does not separately criminalize crossing a street outside a marked crosswalk or between intersections; it only requires compliance with whatever signage, signals or officer direction is actually posted at that location.

1 layers on a stiffer penalty, $100 to $500, but only for drivers who fail to stop for pedestrians at signed crosswalks, not for pedestrians themselves. Because the code's own pedestrian obligation is capped at $5 and does not reach unmarked mid-block crossings, enforcement in Arlington leans on the driver-facing crosswalk-stop rule rather than any citation of the pedestrian for jaywalking.