Scranton, PA Public Conduct: Jaywalking (2026)

Section 439-73, titled "Crossing at intersections and crosswalks," tells pedestrians they "shall not cross streets or highway between intersections unless controlled crosswalks are provided," and where a crosswalk exists, to use its right half and never cross an intersection diagonally. The section adds a distance rule specific to residential districts: a pedestrian may not cross mid-block "when any vehicle is traveling toward them from any direction within a distance of 400 feet," and must yield the right-of-way to that vehicle rather than attempt the crossing.

The rule sits in Article VII, Pedestrians, alongside § 439-72, which separately requires drivers to yield to pedestrians already in a marked crosswalk within a business district, and § 439-75, which binds pedestrians to obey traffic-control signals at controlled intersections. Because jaywalking is not listed among Chapter 439's parking-related offenses, it falls under the chapter's catchall penalty clause at § 439-12, covering every "non-parking related provision" of the chapter rather than a dedicated jaywalking fine schedule. Scranton Police cite pedestrians who cross outside a marked or controlled crosswalk, particularly on multi-lane streets downtown and near the Lackawanna Avenue and Wyoming Avenue business corridors, where § 439-74 separately bans all pedestrian traffic on any limited-access highway within the City.