Worcester, MA Public Conduct: Jaywalking (2026)

Section 80, "Crossing Ways or Roadways," opens the chapter's Pedestrian Control Regulations. Subsection (a) requires pedestrians to obey a police officer directing traffic, and provides that whenever an officer is directing traffic, or a traffic control signal is within three hundred feet, "no such pedestrian shall cross a way or roadway except at such controlled location," with crossings confined to marked crosswalks. Subsection (b) separately bars actuating a pedestrian push-button or entering a crosswalk unless the person actually intends to cross. The following sections build out the same framework: Section 81 requires pedestrians at push-button signals to wait for the actuated walk indication before crossing, and requires yielding the right of way to emergency vehicles and processions regardless of the signal shown.

Section 82 spells out what each signal color and legend means for pedestrians, including that a partially completed crossing on a walk signal must be finished or reversed to the nearest sidewalk once the signal changes. c. 90, sections 14 and 14A, and requires every vehicle operator to exercise due care and sound a horn when necessary to avoid hitting a pedestrian. Section 84 exempts workers actually performing roadway construction or repair duties, on-duty public officers, and pedestrians acting under genuine emergency necessity.