East Baton Rouge Parish, LA Public Conduct: Jaywalking (2026)

City-Parish Code Sec. 11:92 governs jaywalking parish-wide, and within the city of Baton Rouge, since the city and parish share one consolidated traffic code. A pedestrian who crosses a roadway at any point other than inside a marked crosswalk, or an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, must yield the right-of-way to all vehicles on the roadway. The same yield duty applies where a pedestrian tunnel or overhead crossing has been provided nearby: use it, or yield to traffic if you cross elsewhere instead. Between two adjacent intersections that both run traffic-control signals, the rule tightens to a flat ban: pedestrians may not cross anywhere except in a marked crosswalk, with no yield-and-cross exception available.

Diagonal crossing at an intersection is also prohibited unless official traffic-control devices specifically authorize it, and where it is authorized, the pedestrian must follow the signal's crossing pattern exactly. Sec. 11:93 layers a companion duty onto drivers: every driver must exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian on a roadway, sound the horn when necessary, and use extra precaution around children or anyone who appears confused or incapacitated, regardless of whether the pedestrian crossed legally. Enforcement runs through Sec. 11:21, the general penalty clause for Title 11 (Traffic Code): unless another penalty is expressly provided elsewhere in the title, a conviction under any Title 11 provision, including Sec. 00, imprisonment for not more than six months, or both. Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure art. 00, which the maximum jaywalking fine can trigger.