Everett, MA Public Conduct: Jaywalking (2026)

Article VII of Chapter 18 of the Everett Revised Ordinances controls pedestrians in the City of Everett, Massachusetts, in Middlesex County. Section 18-201 has two parts. First, pedestrians must obey the directions of police officers directing traffic. Second, whenever there is an officer directing traffic, or a traffic control signal within three hundred (300) feet of a pedestrian, no pedestrian can cross a way or roadway except within the limits of the marked crosswalk at the signalized location. The section also defines the crosswalk: only the area of a roadway reserved for pedestrian crossing between two (2) solid white reflectorized twelve-inch pavement markings in rural areas, or markings not less than six (6) inches wide in urban areas, with the lines no less than six (6) feet apart.

Section 18-202 tells pedestrians what the signals mean. On the red and yellow indication or the word 'Walk,' pedestrians can proceed across the roadway. On 'Don't Walk' or any indication other than red and yellow together, they wait on the sidewalk, the edge of the roadway or the pedestrian refuge area of a traffic island, and a pedestrian who has partly completed a crossing proceeds or returns to the nearest sidewalk or safety island. Where no pedestrian indication is provided, pedestrians cross on the green indication within a marked crosswalk. Section 18-204 requires use of the push button where one controls the pedestrian signal, and subsection (c) makes it unlawful to actuate a pedestrian control signal unless a crossing of the roadway is intended.

Section 18-205 exempts pedestrians engaged in work upon a roadway closed to travel or under construction or repair, municipal, state, federal and public service corporation employees performing their duties, officers on public duties, and pedestrians acting in an emergency. Section 18-203 keeps drivers on the hook too: every operator must exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian and sound the horn when necessary.