Haverhill, MA Public Conduct: Jaywalking (2026)

City Code § 240-68 requires pedestrians to obey officers directing traffic and, whenever a traffic control signal or marked crosswalk sits within 300 feet, forbids crossing a way or roadway anywhere except within that marked crosswalk. The code defines a marked crosswalk as the roadway area between two solid white reflectorized pavement markings, 12 inches wide in rural areas or at least 6 inches wide in urban areas, spaced no less than 6 feet apart. Sections 240-69 through 240-71 add signal-specific rules: pedestrians must actuate a push button where one is provided, obey walk/don't-walk and colored signal indications, yield to funeral processions and emergency vehicles, and may not suddenly leave a sidewalk into the path of an oncoming vehicle.

Where no marked crosswalk governs the crossing point, § 240-72 shifts the right-of-way: a pedestrian crossing at any nonsignalized, unmarked location must yield to all vehicles on the roadway, and where a pedestrian tunnel or overpass exists, must use it. Section 240-73 preserves drivers' separate duty of due care under MGL c. 90, §§ 14 and 14A toward pedestrians and blind persons, and § 240-74 separately bars standing in a roadway to solicit a ride, employment, or business without written permission from the officer or board controlling that roadway. Section 240-75 assigns enforcement of the entire article to all officers of the City of Haverhill, not just police.