Waterloo, IA Public Conduct: Jaywalking (2026)

The city's Traffic Code, adopted by Ordinance 3842 and incorporated into the municipal code at section 6-1-1, addresses mid-block and outside-crosswalk crossing in two separate sections. Section 238, Crossing At Other Than Crosswalk, provides that every pedestrian crossing a street or highway anywhere other than within a marked crosswalk, or within an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, must yield the right of way to all vehicles on the roadway; the same yield duty applies where a pedestrian tunnel or overhead crossing has been built, and where traffic-control signals operate at a non-intersection location, pedestrians may not cross at all except in a marked crosswalk.

Section 240, Prohibited Crossing, narrows that further for downtown: pedestrians crossing a street in the business district must use the crosswalks only, with no yield-and-cross option as in section 238. Together, the two sections mean a pedestrian who jaywalks outside downtown assumes the right-of-way risk but is not automatically breaking the crossing rule unless a signal is active nearby, while a pedestrian who crosses mid-block anywhere in the business district is in violation regardless of traffic. Neither section prints its own fine, unlike neighboring section 237, which sets a $100.00 scheduled fine for drivers who fail to yield to pedestrians in a crosswalk.

Because the Traffic Code is adopted as part of the Waterloo City Code, an unspecified violation defaults to the general penalty in section 1-3-1: a fine up to the maximum for a simple misdemeanor under Iowa Code section 903.1(1)(a).