Burlington, NC Public Conduct: Jaywalking (2026)

Section 36-1 defines a crosswalk as the portion of a roadway included within the prolongation of the lateral lines of the sidewalks at an intersection, or any portion of the roadway distinctly marked for pedestrian crossing by lines or other markings. Section 36-183 then governs pedestrians who cross outside that space. Subsection (a) requires a pedestrian crossing a roadway at any point other than a marked crosswalk, or an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, to yield the right-of-way to every vehicle on the roadway; the driver has no obligation to stop for a jaywalker in that situation.

Subsection (b) applies the same yield requirement where the city has built a pedestrian tunnel or overhead crossing, so a pedestrian who bypasses that structure to cross at street level still must yield. Subsection (c) is stricter between adjacent intersections where the traffic signals are operating: pedestrians there cannot cross at any point except in a marked crosswalk, regardless of whether they yield to traffic. The section sits in Article VII, Pedestrians, alongside the driver's own duty of care in Section 36-181 and the crosswalk right-of-way rule in Section 36-182, and it derives from the 1959 Code and tracks the similar state provision at G.S.

20-174. Enforcement runs through Section 36-36, which routes citations and arrests for pedestrian and traffic violations under this chapter through the applicable infraction procedure in G.S. Chapters 14, 15A and 20 rather than a separate local fine schedule.