Crosswalks Don’t Have to be Marked—Giving Pedestrians the Upper Hand

I’ve been driving for 42 years. And practicing personal injury law for 33 years.

But I’m continually learning new things about the rules of the road. (Or maybe refamiliarizing-familiarizing myself with things I’ve forgotten.)

Crosswalks can be marked (RCW 46.04.290) or unmarked (RCW 46.04.160).

That’s right. There are unmarked crosswalks at every intersection. And those unmarked crosswalks provide protection to pedestrians and impose special obligations on drivers.

Here’s the instruction the judge reads to jurors in cases where a car has hit a pedestrian:

There are no exceptions to the definition of crosswalk.

The driver of a vehicle approaching a crosswalk has a duty of continuous observation to watch for pedestrians in the crosswalk—whether it’s marked or unmarked.

This is how the jury instruction reads:

Pedestrians have a strong right of way when they’re in either a marked or an unmarked crosswalk. Here’s what the judge will instruct the jury:

All of this has a huge impact on cases where a pedestrian is hit by a car. There are still defenses that drivers can raise. But this broad definition of “crosswalk” completely shifts the upper hand to the pedestrian in disputed liability cases.