Waukegan, IL Public Conduct: Jaywalking (2026)

Sec. 21-193 flips the normal right-of-way rule for pedestrians who leave the crosswalk system: under subsection (a), any pedestrian crossing a roadway at a point other than within a marked crosswalk or an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection must yield to all vehicles on the roadway, rather than vehicles yielding to the pedestrian as they would inside a crosswalk under Sec. 21-191. Subsection (b) extends the same yield duty to a pedestrian who crosses near a provided pedestrian tunnel or overhead crossing instead of using it.

Subsection (c) goes further between adjacent signalized intersections: pedestrians there may not cross anywhere except in a marked crosswalk, a flat prohibition rather than a yield rule. Subsection (d) bars diagonal crossing at an intersection unless official traffic-control devices specifically authorize it, and even then only according to those devices. The section carves out an exception in (e) for pedestrians with disabilities, who may cross outside a crosswalk where the intersection itself is physically inaccessible to them, and it puts the yield burden back on drivers toward that pedestrian.

Subsection (f) independently requires every driver to exercise due care, sound a horn when necessary and take precautions around children, confused, incapacitated or intoxicated pedestrians, regardless of where the pedestrian is crossing. The article traces to Ord. No. 12-O-102, adopted November 5, 2012, which repealed and replaced the former pedestrian article in its entirety.