Chapel Hill, NC Public Conduct: Jaywalking (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- Code of Ordinances Sec. 21-5
- Duty on pedestrians
- Keep moving while crossing a street
- Duty on drivers
- Pull to curb before picking up pedestrians
- Maximum fine
- $50 under the Code's general penalty
- Maximum jail term
- 30 days under Sec. 1-7
- Enforcing agency
- Chapel Hill Police Department
Summary
Chapel Hill has no dedicated jaywalking statute; instead, Code of Ordinances Sec. 21-5 bars pedestrians from standing in the roadway or otherwise blocking vehicle traffic and requires anyone crossing a public street to keep moving. Chapel Hill police enforce it alongside the town's general fifty-dollar penalty for code violations that carry no separate fine.
Whenever in this Code or in any ordinance of the town any act is prohibited or is made or declared to be unlawful or an offense or a misdemeanor or whenever in such Code or ordinance the doing of any act is required or the failure to do such act is declared to be unlawful, where no specific penalty is provided therefor, the violation of any such provision of this Code or other ordinances shall be punished by a fine not exceeding fifty dollars ($50.00) or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding thirty (30) days. Each day that any violation of this Code or of any ordinance shall continue shall constitute a separate offense. ... No pedestrian shall be permitted to stand on the motor vehicular portion of any public street in the town or in any manner obstruct motor vehicular traffic, and in crossing the public street all pedestrians shall keep in motion while in this portion of the public street. It shall be unlawful for any person to stop a motor vehicle in the public streets of the town to pick up any pedestrian without first drawing up to the right-hand curb.
Full Breakdown
Sec. 21-5 of the Chapel Hill Code of Ordinances, adopted under Ord. No. O-81-39 on May 26, 1981, provides that no pedestrian shall be permitted to stand on the motor vehicular portion of any public street in the town or in any manner obstruct motor vehicular traffic, and that anyone crossing a public street must keep in motion while on that portion of the roadway. The same section separately bars drivers from stopping in a public street to pick up a pedestrian without first pulling up to the right-hand curb, pairing a duty on the walker with a duty on the driver rather than banning crossing outside a marked crosswalk outright.
The Chapel Hill Police Department enforces the section as part of general traffic policing rather than through a dedicated pedestrian-crossing unit. Because Sec. 21-5 does not set its own fine, Sec. 1-7's general penalty for the Code governs: a violation of any provision that carries no specific penalty is punishable by a fine not exceeding fifty dollars or imprisonment not exceeding thirty days, with each day a violation continues counting as a separate offense. Officers most often cite the section against pedestrians lingering in travel lanes near Franklin Street and other congested commercial blocks rather than against a single mid-block crossing.
Violations & Fines
A pedestrian who stands in the roadway or fails to keep moving while crossing, and a driver who stops mid-street to pick someone up instead of pulling to the curb, both face Sec. 1-7's general Code penalty: a fine of up to fifty dollars, up to thirty days imprisonment, or both, with continuing violations counted as separate offenses for each day.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is jaywalking illegal in Chapel Hill?
What can happen if police cite someone under Sec. 21-5?
Does the rule also apply to drivers?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Chapel Hill
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