Omaha, NE Public Conduct: Jaywalking (2026)

Section 36-112 sets five distinct rules rather than one blanket jaywalking ban. First, a pedestrian who crosses a roadway at any point other than a marked crosswalk, or an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, must yield the right-of-way to all vehicles on that roadway; the driver does not have to stop for a jaywalker. Second, that same yield duty applies where the city has built a pedestrian tunnel or overhead crossing but a person crosses at street level instead. Third, on blocks between adjacent intersections that both have working traffic-control signals, pedestrians are barred from crossing anywhere except in a marked crosswalk, no yielding exception applies there.

Fourth, diagonal crossing through an intersection is unlawful unless traffic-control devices specifically authorize it (a 'pedestrian scramble' phase), and even then a pedestrian must follow the markings for that movement. Fifth, the city traffic engineer has standalone authority to erect signs on any street or roadway that prohibit pedestrian crossing entirely except at a crosswalk, independent of the other four rules. The section works alongside § 36-106 (pedestrians keep to the right half of a crosswalk), § 36-110 (pedestrians must obey traffic-control devices), and § 36-111, which requires drivers to stop for pedestrians who are lawfully inside a marked or intersection crosswalk, the flip side of the yield duty imposed here. No specific fine is written into § 36-112 itself, so a violation falls under the Code's general penalty provision.