The following is from Officer Michelle Lentz…it clarifies what we put in the newsletter about crosswalks.
SECTION 56-5-3130. Pedestrians’ right-of-way in crosswalks.
(a) When traffic-control signals are not in place or not in operation the driver of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way, slowing down or stopping if need be to yield to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a crosswalk when the pedestrian is upon the half of the roadway upon which the vehicle is traveling or when the pedestrian is approaching so closely from the opposite half of the roadway as to be in danger.
(b) No pedestrian shall suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or run into the path of a vehicle which is so close as to constitute an immediate hazard.
(c) Subsection (a) shall not apply under the conditions stated in subsection (b) of Section 56-5-3150.
(d) Whenever any vehicle is stopped at a marked crosswalk or at any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection to permit a pedestrian to cross the roadway, the driver of any other vehicle approaching from the rear shall not overtake and pass such stopped vehicle.
***Therefore, the law only applies to pedestrians that are lawfully in the crosswalk already. Traffic is not expected to come to a stop for a pedestrian waiting to cross***.
Ofc. M.H. Lentz
Greenville Police Department
Public Affairs | Crime Prevention & Outreach
