Houston, TX Public Conduct: Jaywalking (2026)

Texas Transportation Code Section 552.005 governs pedestrian crossings outside marked crosswalks. Pedestrians must yield to vehicles unless they are within an intersection or marked crosswalk and crossing where adjacent intersections have traffic-control signals must use a crosswalk. Texas, unlike California, has not relaxed jaywalking enforcement, and Houston Police continue to cite walkers crossing mid-block on busy thoroughfares like Westheimer, Main, and Washington. Citations are typically Class C misdemeanors. Houston has launched Vision Zero pedestrian-safety campaigns since 2019 emphasizing driver yielding under Section 552.003, but those efforts focus on infrastructure rather than reducing pedestrian citations. Failure to appear in municipal court can trigger an FTA hold on a driver license.