Gilroy, CA Public Conduct: Jaywalking (2026)

Section 15.108 confines pedestrians to crosswalks when crossing a roadway within the central traffic district, in any business district, or in a school zone that is posted with both a SCHOOL sign and a NO CROSSING sign; the school-zone language was added by a 2012 amendment. Outside those specific areas, Section 15.109 still requires a pedestrian crossing anywhere other than a marked crosswalk to take the shortest route straight across, at a right angle to the curb, rather than an angled or wandering path. Section 15.110 separately bars anyone from standing in a roadway or in a crosswalk in a way that interferes with the lawful movement of traffic, though it exempts public officers, public employees and utility workers who are necessarily in the street on duty.

Together the three sections give Gilroy police a specific, mapped basis for jaywalking enforcement: the crosswalk-only rule applies only in the defined districts and posted school zones, while the shortest-route rule fills in everywhere else in the city. The state Vehicle Code's own pedestrian crossing sections, cited in the Code's history notes at Sections 21954, 21955 and 21961, apply alongside these local provisions.