Brookhaven, GA Public Conduct: Jaywalking (2026)

Brookhaven's pedestrian rules sit in Article V of Chapter 17. Section 17-298 says pedestrians shall not cross any street or roadway in a business district or any designated streets or highways except in a crosswalk. Two categories are covered: every street in a business district, and streets or highways the city has designated. The section itself lists no designated streets, so the operative test in a business district is simply whether the pedestrian used a crosswalk.

Section 17-299 governs how a crossing happens where a crosswalk is not required. No pedestrian can cross a roadway at any place other than by a route at right angles to the curb or by the shortest route to the opposite curb, except in a crosswalk. A diagonal cut across the roadway is therefore a violation even outside a business district.

The crosswalks themselves come from the public works department. Under section 17-61, and upon approval of the city council, public works designates and maintains crosswalks by marks or lines on the roadway at intersections where there is particular danger to pedestrians and at other places deemed necessary. The city must study existing crosswalks that are not at roadway intersections and abolish those that are unnecessary. Public works can also establish safety zones for the protection of pedestrians.

Other rules borrow the pedestrian standard. A bicyclist who dismounts to cross an intersection as a pedestrian must obey the regulations applicable to pedestrians (17-319(d)), and a person on roller skates or coasters crossing a street on a crosswalk gets the rights and duties of a pedestrian (17-426(a)). Police officers assigned by the chief enforce the chapter under section 17-34, and section 17-1 adopts O.C.G.A. title 40, chapter 6 by reference.