Is It Illegal to Jaywalk in Florida? A Legal Guide to Florida Pedestrian Law and "Jaywalking" History
Written and reviewed by Daniel B. Reinfeld, Esq. | Last updated October 24, 2026
Is Jaywalking Illegal in Florida?
No. It is not illegal to jaywalk in Florida. The word does not appear in the Florida Statutes, and crossing a street outside a crosswalk is legal on most Florida roads as long as the pedestrian yields to traffic. Florida Statute § 316.130 prohibits four specific things: crossing mid-block between two signalized intersections, crossing against a signal, walking in the road where a sidewalk exists, and stepping into the path of a car too close to stop. Each is a noncriminal infraction with a $15 base fine, not a crime.
That is the short answer. The longer answer matters more if you were hit by a car, because in a Florida injury claim the insurance company will not ask whether you were "jaywalking." It will ask whether you violated a specific statute, whether that violation actually caused the collision, and what percentage of fault a jury would assign to you. Under Florida's modified comparative negligence rule, that percentage can reduce your recovery or, if it exceeds 50%, eliminate it. That fight over fault is the core of what a Hollywood pedestrian accident lawyer does in a disputed case.
This article explains what Florida law actually says about crossing the street, where the word "jaywalking" came from, what a pedestrian ticket costs, and what happens to your injury claim if you were outside a crosswalk when a driver struck you.
Legal in Florida | Statute |
Crossing mid-block outside a crosswalk, unless between two signalized intersections, as long as you yield to all vehicles | § 316.130(10) |
Crossing at an intersection without painted lines (an unmarked crosswalk) | § 316.130(10) |
Walking along a road with no sidewalk, on the left shoulder facing traffic | § 316.130(4) |
Illegal in Florida | Statute |
Crossing against a red light or "Don't Walk" signal | § 316.130(1), (2) |
Crossing mid-block between two adjacent intersections that both have working traffic signals | § 316.130(11) |
Walking in the roadway where a sidewalk is provided | § 316.130(3) |
Leaving the curb suddenly into the path of a vehicle too close to stop | § 316.130(8) |
Crossing outside a crosswalk by any route other than a right angle or the shortest path | § 316.130(12) |
Crossing an intersection diagonally without a signal authorizing it | § 316.130(14) |
If you are cited or injured | Florida rule |
Classification | Noncriminal pedestrian infraction, not a crime, § 316.130(19) |
Base fine | $15 under § 318.18(1)(a), plus court costs and county surcharges |
Driver's duty if you were outside a crosswalk | Due care to avoid any pedestrian, § 316.130(15) |
Your right to recover damages | Reduced by your share of fault; barred only if over 50%, § 768.81(6) |
What Is Jaywalking in Florida, and Why Isn't the Word in the Statutes?
"Jaywalking" is a slang term, not a legal one. People generally use it to mean crossing a street somewhere other than a crosswalk, or crossing against a signal. Florida's traffic code never uses the word. It regulates specific pedestrian conduct in Florida Statute § 316.130 and leaves the slang to the public.
The word's history explains why it carries so much weight in accident cases even though it has no legal meaning. We covered that history in detail in our article on Florida Pedestrian and Bicycle Rights: How Cars Changed Personal Injury Law. The short version is that the street did not always belong to cars.
Before automobiles, American streets were not understood as corridors belonging primarily to vehicles. They were shared public spaces used by pedestrians, children, vendors, horses, carriages, streetcars, and cyclists. The automobile did not merely enter this existing system; it eventually transformed the legal and cultural meaning of the street.
Under the common law that governed before the automobile, everyone on the street had the same basic rights and the same basic duty of care.
Under the prevailing common-law approach, pedestrians and operators of horses, carriages, bicycles, and later automobiles had reciprocal rights and duties. All lawful users had a right to use the highway, and each was required to exercise reasonable care for the safety of the others.
Where the Word "Jaywalker" Came From
The word started as an insult, and it was originally aimed at drivers, not walkers.
The word "jay" originally referred to the familiar noisy bird, but it later became an insult for a foolish or unsophisticated person. By the late nineteenth century, Americans used it for a "greenhorn," "rube," or "country bumpkin" unfamiliar with city customs. That insulting meaning eventually gave rise to its common understanding. Many would be surprised to know that before the phrase "jaywalker" appeared, the term "jay driver" was used to describe an incompetent carriage or automobile driver, particularly one who drove on the wrong side of the road.
A common claim online is that car companies invented the word. That overstates it. As we explained in the rights article:
The term "jaywalker" appeared sporadically before the automobile industry's major campaigns. It is therefore an overstatement to say that automobile manufacturers literally invented the word. The more historically defensible conclusion is: Automobile interests discovered, redefined, and aggressively popularized an obscure and insulting expression until it became an accepted description of unlawful pedestrian behavior.
What the word accomplished was a reversal of blame.
The word performed important cultural work. Calling someone a "jaywalker" suggested that the pedestrian was ignorant of modern urban behavior. It reversed the earlier presumption: the automobile was no longer the dangerous intruder; the pedestrian was now the disorderly person interfering with legitimate traffic.
The Early Anti-Jaywalking Laws
Courts did not accept the new rules immediately. Some judges struck down early crosswalk ordinances because they contradicted long-standing street customs. In one example from our article, an Illinois judge invalidated a Joliet ordinance requiring pedestrians to use crosswalks and cross at right angles. The turning point came in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles played an especially important role in this transformation. Traffic engineer Miller McClintock helped develop a comprehensive traffic code that treated the street principally as a motor thoroughfare. Los Angeles adopted a pedestrian-control ordinance in 1924 that took effect in January 1925. Automotive interests later helped circulate similar regulatory ideas nationally, including through work associated with the U.S. Department of Commerce.
The campaign was as much public relations as legislation. At a 1922 Detroit safety parade, the Packard Motor Car Company reportedly sponsored a tombstone-themed float memorializing "Mr. J. Walker," who had stepped from the curb without looking. By 1930 the transformation was substantially complete, and the compromise those years produced is the one still written into Florida law today.
By 1930, the transformation was substantially complete in many major American cities. Streets had become primarily corridors for motor traffic, while pedestrians could enter the roadway subject to defined restrictions. Modern pedestrian accident laws still reflect this compromise. Drivers ordinarily must yield to pedestrians in marked and unmarked crosswalks, while pedestrians crossing elsewhere ordinarily must yield to approaching vehicles. Nevertheless, a pedestrian outside a crosswalk does not lose all legal protection, and motorists retain an independent duty to exercise reasonable care and avoid foreseeable collisions.
Florida's own courts recognized the other side of that bargain early. In Southern Cotton Oil Co. v. Anderson, 80 Fla. 441, 86 So. 629 (1920), the Florida Supreme Court held that an automobile operated on public roads is a "dangerous instrumentality," making the owner responsible for a permissive driver's negligence. As our rights article put it, the doctrine survives as a legal reminder that cars did not acquire priority because they were naturally entitled to the road; the law reorganized the street around automobiles while acknowledging the extraordinary risks they created.
One more point from that history matters for anyone on two wheels. Jaywalking is a pedestrian concept. A person riding a bicycle is operating a vehicle, and under § 316.2065(1) has the rights and duties of any other driver on the road. The pedestrian rules in § 316.130 do not apply to a cyclist in the roadway, although a cyclist riding on a sidewalk or through a crosswalk takes on pedestrian rights and duties for that stretch. The same is true of an electric bicycle under § 316.20655. If you were hit while riding, the analysis runs through the vehicle code rather than the pedestrian code; our Hollywood bicycle accident, Fort Lauderdale bicycle accident, Hollywood e-bike accident, and Fort Lauderdale e-bike accident pages cover those rules.
Is Jaywalking Legal in Florida? What Statute 316.130 Actually Says
Florida's pedestrian rules live in one section of the traffic code, Florida Statute § 316.130, titled "Pedestrians; traffic regulations." Several subsections cover what most people mean by jaywalking.
What Is Legal in Florida
Mid-block crossings
On most Florida streets, crossing mid-block is legal. Section 316.130 does not require pedestrians to walk to the nearest crosswalk or intersection. It assumes people will cross elsewhere and sets conditions for doing so: cross by a direct route and yield to traffic.
The one exception is a block whose intersections on both ends have working traffic signals. That situation is covered under what is illegal, below. On a residential street with stop signs, or where only one of the two nearest intersections is signalized, mid-block crossing is permitted.
Right-angle crossings
When you cross outside a marked crosswalk, § 316.130(12) requires you to cross at a right angle to the curb or by the shortest route to the opposite curb. A straight line across the street is legal. Angling down the block while crossing is not. This rule exists so that a pedestrian spends the least possible time in the roadway.
Yielding right-of-way
Section 316.130(10) provides that every pedestrian crossing a roadway at any point other than within a marked crosswalk or an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection shall yield the right-of-way to all vehicles upon the roadway. A pedestrian who crosses mid-block is not breaking the law, but has given up the right-of-way and must wait for a gap in traffic. Note the phrase "unmarked crosswalk." Under Florida's definitions, an unmarked crosswalk exists at an intersection wherever the sidewalk lines would extend across the road, even without painted stripes. A pedestrian crossing at an intersection in that corridor is in a crosswalk and keeps the right-of-way.
What Is Illegal in Florida
Crossing between adjacent signalized intersections
This is the closest thing Florida has to a jaywalking law. Section 316.130(11) states that between adjacent intersections at which traffic control signals are in operation, pedestrians shall not cross at any place except in a marked crosswalk. The prohibition is narrower than most people assume. It applies only when the intersection on each end of the block has a working signal. Downtown Hollywood, Las Olas, and Brickell have many such blocks; most residential and suburban streets do not.
A simple test: look to the intersection on your left and the intersection on your right. If both have working traffic lights, you must walk to a marked crosswalk. If one has a traffic light and the other has a stop sign, a flashing beacon, or nothing at all, § 316.130(11) does not apply and you may cross mid-block, provided you take the shortest route and yield to every vehicle. The distance between the two signals does not change the rule. Whether they are 200 feet apart on Hollywood Boulevard or half a mile apart on a suburban arterial, the crossing between them is prohibited outside a crosswalk.
One question the statute leaves open is what happens when an unsignalized side street or T-intersection sits between the two signals. The statute requires the signalized intersections to be "adjacent," and an intervening intersection, even one with no signal, is still an intersection under Florida's definitions. In a disputed case that gap can matter: if the two signals were not adjacent, the pedestrian was never subject to (11) at all, only to the general duty to yield under (10). No Florida appellate decision we have located resolves the point, so it is argued case by case from the roadway layout.
Crossing against a signal
Section 316.130(1) requires a pedestrian to obey any official traffic control device specifically applicable to the pedestrian, and § 316.130(2) makes pedestrians subject to traffic signals at intersections under § 316.075. Walking against a steady "Don't Walk" signal or a red light is a violation even inside a marked crosswalk.
Walking in the road where a sidewalk exists
Section 316.130(3) states that where sidewalks are provided, no pedestrian shall, unless required by other circumstances, walk along the portion of a roadway paved for vehicular traffic. Where there is no sidewalk, § 316.130(4) requires walking on the left shoulder, facing traffic, when practicable.
Sudden entry into traffic
Section 316.130(8) provides that 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 that it is impossible for the driver to yield. This applies inside a crosswalk as well as outside one, and it is the subsection insurance adjusters cite most often when they argue the pedestrian caused the crash.
Diagonal crossings
Section 316.130(14) prohibits crossing an intersection diagonally unless an official traffic control device authorizes it, and then only as the device directs. A few signalized intersections in South Florida use an all-way pedestrian phase that permits diagonal crossing; everywhere else, cross one leg at a time.
Local Ordinances Can Be Stricter
Section 316.008 lets cities and counties regulate pedestrian movement on their own streets, and some South Florida municipalities have adopted crosswalk ordinances that go further than the state statute. Before assuming a crossing was legal, it is worth checking the local code for the city where the accident happened.
Is Jaywalking a Crime in Florida? What a Pedestrian Ticket Costs
No. A violation of § 316.130 is not a crime. Section 316.130(19) classifies it as a noncriminal traffic infraction, punishable under Chapter 318 as a pedestrian violation. It does not go on a criminal record, it cannot result in jail, and because it is a pedestrian violation rather than a moving violation, it does not add points to a driver's license.
The base fine is small. Florida Statute § 318.18(1)(a) sets the penalty for all infractions of pedestrian regulations at $15. Court costs and county surcharges are added on top, so the total on the citation is higher and varies from county to county. In practice, the amount a pedestrian pays in Broward or Miami-Dade is typically well under $100.
Item | Florida rule |
Classification | Noncriminal pedestrian infraction, § 316.130(19) |
Base fine | $15, § 318.18(1)(a) |
Court costs and surcharges | Added by the clerk; vary by county |
Points on driver's license | None for a pedestrian violation |
Criminal record | None |
Jail | Not possible for the infraction itself |
Two things are worth knowing about enforcement. First, pedestrian citations are uncommon in South Florida. Police departments generally reserve them for high-crash corridors or safety campaigns, and a Hollywood or Fort Lauderdale resident is far more likely to receive a verbal warning than a written ticket. Second, a stop for a pedestrian infraction can lead to other consequences if the person has an outstanding warrant or is carrying something illegal. The ticket itself is minor; what the stop uncovers may not be.
If you receive a pedestrian citation, you have the same options as any other noncriminal infraction under § 318.14: pay it, or request a hearing before a county court judge or hearing officer within 30 days.
Does a Driver Have to Avoid a Jaywalking Pedestrian in Florida?
Yes. The same statute that regulates pedestrians imposes a duty on drivers that does not depend on where the pedestrian is standing. Section 316.130(15) states that notwithstanding other provisions of the chapter, every driver of a vehicle shall exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian, give warning when necessary, and exercise proper precaution upon observing any child or any obviously confused or incapacitated person.
The phrase "notwithstanding other provisions" is doing real work. It means the driver's duty of due care survives even when the pedestrian has violated one of the subsections above. A pedestrian who crosses mid-block has given up the right-of-way. The pedestrian has not given the driver permission to hit them.
Our rights article put the point this way:
A pedestrian's violation of a traffic regulation does not give a motorist permission to strike that pedestrian or automatically relieve the driver of responsibility. Modern negligence law ordinarily considers the conduct of both parties, including whether the driver maintained a proper lookout, traveled at a reasonable speed under the circumstances, could see the pedestrian, and had sufficient time or distance to react. Lighting, visibility, road conditions, and whether the pedestrian was within a marked or unmarked crosswalk may also affect the analysis.
Drivers also carry separate duties under other sections of Chapter 316. They must drive at a speed that is reasonable for the conditions, not merely under the posted limit (§ 316.183). They must stop for a pedestrian in a crosswalk with a permitted signal (§ 316.130(7)(a)) and yield to a pedestrian in an unsignalized crosswalk (§ 316.130(7)(c)). They may not pass a vehicle that has stopped at a crosswalk to let someone cross (§ 316.130(9)). And they must exercise due care at all times (§ 316.1925).
In a disputed pedestrian case, the question is rarely whether the pedestrian was in a crosswalk. It is whether the driver was paying attention, how fast the driver was going, when the pedestrian first became visible, and whether the driver had time to stop. Those are the facts that decide fault, and they have to be developed through evidence: surveillance video, vehicle event data, skid marks, lighting measurements, and witness accounts.
What Happens If You Get Hit by a Car While Jaywalking in Florida?
You can still recover compensation, but your own conduct becomes part of the case. Florida uses modified comparative negligence under Florida Statute § 768.81. A jury assigns a percentage of fault to each party, and the pedestrian's damages are reduced by the pedestrian's percentage. Since the 2023 tort reform law (HB 837), § 768.81(6) adds a cutoff: a plaintiff found more than 50% at fault recovers nothing.
The practical effect is a sliding scale. A pedestrian found 20% at fault for crossing mid-block recovers 80% of the damages a jury awards. A pedestrian found 50% at fault recovers half. A pedestrian found 51% at fault recovers nothing. For a claim accruing before March 24, 2023, the older pure comparative negligence rule applies and there is no cutoff.
Pedestrian's share of fault | Recovery under § 768.81(6) |
0% | 100% of damages |
25% | 75% of damages |
50% | 50% of damages |
51% or more | Nothing |
That 50% line is why the "jaywalking" label is dangerous in a Florida injury case. The insurance company's goal is not to prove the pedestrian did something wrong. It is to push the pedestrian's share of fault past 50%, which turns a reduced recovery into no recovery at all.
Violating § 316.130 Is Evidence of Negligence, Not Proof of It
A pedestrian's violation of a traffic statute like § 316.130 is admissible as evidence of negligence, but under Florida law it is not negligence per se. The jury may consider it along with everything else. The violation has to be weighed against the driver's own conduct, and it only matters if it actually contributed to the collision.
Causation matters as well. A court or jury may need to determine whether an alleged pedestrian violation actually contributed to the collision or merely furnished the occasion for it. In a Florida pedestrian or bicycle accident claim, alleged "jaywalking" may support a comparative-negligence argument, but it does not automatically eliminate the motorist's independent duties or prevent the injured person from recovering compensation.
Consider a pedestrian crossing mid-block at night who is struck by a driver traveling 15 mph over the limit while looking at a phone. The pedestrian violated § 316.130(10) by failing to yield. The driver violated § 316.183 and § 316.305 and failed the due-care duty in § 316.130(15). A jury weighing those facts might well put most of the fault on the driver, particularly if the evidence shows the driver had time to stop and did not.
Why Assumptions About Crosswalks Work Against Injured Pedestrians
The hardest part of a mid-block pedestrian case is often not the law. It is the assumption, shared by adjusters and sometimes jurors, that a person outside a crosswalk was somewhere they did not belong. Our rights article traced that assumption to its source:
The campaign's most significant achievement may have been psychological rather than statutory. It normalized the assumptions that roadways naturally belong to automobiles, that pedestrians outside painted crosswalks are somewhere they do not belong, and that crossing away from an intersection is inherently reckless. These beliefs can cause people to attribute a collision to the pedestrian's presence in the roadway rather than examine the driver's speed, attention, visibility, or opportunity to avoid the crash.
Those assumptions are historically constructed, not legally inevitable.
Overcoming that assumption takes evidence. In our own pedestrian accident practice, the $1.6 million unanimous jury verdict we obtained for a pedestrian struck by a motor vehicle, recognized by TopVerdict as one of Florida's Top 10 Pedestrian Verdicts of 2024, followed a week-long trial in which the court directed a verdict in the plaintiff's favor on comparative fault, removing that issue from the jury entirely. That result came from developing the evidence of the driver's conduct, not from arguing about where the pedestrian was standing. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome; every case depends on its facts.
Florida's Rule Compared to Other States
Florida's 50% bar is among the stricter rules in the country. California uses pure comparative negligence, so a pedestrian who is 90% at fault still recovers 10%. Texas and Nevada bar recovery at 51%, which in practice is the same line as Florida's. The states that have decriminalized jaywalking in recent years, including California under its 2023 Freedom to Walk Act, changed what police can ticket; they did not change how fault is divided in a civil case.
Why Jaywalking Matters So Much in South Florida Pedestrian Cases
Most fatal pedestrian crashes in Florida do not happen in crosswalks. That single fact is why the jaywalking question comes up in so many injury claims here. We examined the data in detail in our article on Florida Pedestrian Accident Statistics from a Legal Perspective. The numbers that bear most directly on this article are these.
According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV), Florida recorded 10,306 pedestrian crashes in 2023, resulting in 791 pedestrian fatalities, 1,408 incapacitating injuries, and 6,707 other pedestrian injuries.
FDOT reports that nearly 80% of pedestrian fatalities occur in dark conditions and that approximately two-thirds of pedestrian-related fatal crashes occur outside marked crosswalks.
The three counties this firm serves account for a disproportionate share of the state's total.
According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV), Miami-Dade County recorded 1,844 pedestrian crashes and 101 pedestrian fatalities in 2023, while Broward County recorded 1,114 pedestrian crashes and 67 pedestrian fatalities. In Palm Beach County, 713 pedestrian crashes resulted in 54 pedestrian fatalities during the same year.
Together, Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties experienced 3,671 pedestrian crashes and 222 pedestrian fatalities in 2023. These three counties alone accounted for approximately 36% of all pedestrian crashes in Florida and 28% of the state's pedestrian fatalities that year.
2023 (FLHSMV) | Pedestrian crashes | Pedestrian deaths | Pedestrian injuries |
Miami-Dade | 1,844 | 101 | 1,446 |
Broward | 1,114 | 67 | 965 |
Palm Beach | 713 | 54 | 559 |
Three-county total | 3,671 | 222 | 2,970 |
Florida statewide | 10,306 | 791 | 8,115 |
If two-thirds of fatal pedestrian crashes happen outside marked crosswalks, then in most serious pedestrian cases the defense will raise § 316.130 and the pedestrian's location. The statistics article explains why location alone does not settle the question.
When a pedestrian is struck outside a marked crosswalk, determining how the collision occurred requires consideration of the circumstances leading up to the impact. The investigation may include the driver's speed and attentiveness, impairment or distraction, lighting and visibility, sight distance, roadway design, traffic conditions and traffic-control devices, as well as the pedestrian's location and movements.
Ultimately, the fact that a pedestrian was outside a marked crosswalk is one circumstance among many. Responsibility must be evaluated based on the complete sequence of events and the respective conduct of the driver and pedestrian under the applicable Florida traffic laws.
Speed is the other variable that cuts against the simple jaywalking story. FDOT's figures show the risk of severe injury to a pedestrian is roughly 50% at 30 mph and roughly 90% at 46 mph. A driver who was traveling too fast for the conditions had less time to see a pedestrian and caused far more harm on impact, regardless of whether that pedestrian was in a crosswalk.
So does lighting. With nearly 80% of pedestrian deaths occurring in the dark, the questions in a nighttime case are what street lighting existed, whether the driver's headlights were on, when the pedestrian became visible, and how much distance the driver had to react. Those facts are often recoverable from the scene, from nearby cameras, and from the vehicle's own data, but only if someone gathers them before they disappear.
Frequently Asked Questions About Jaywalking in Florida
Is jaywalking legal in Florida?
It depends on what you mean. Florida has no statute that uses the word, and crossing outside a crosswalk is legal on most streets as long as you yield to traffic. It is illegal to cross mid-block between two signalized intersections, to cross against a signal, to walk in the road where a sidewalk exists, or to step suddenly into the path of a car. Those rules are in Florida Statute § 316.130.
Is it illegal to jaywalk in Florida if there is no crosswalk nearby?
No. If there is no marked crosswalk and you are not between two signalized intersections, you may cross where you are. Section 316.130 does not require walking to the nearest crosswalk. You must cross by the shortest route and yield to every vehicle on the road, because outside a crosswalk you have no right-of-way.
Can you get a ticket for jaywalking in Hollywood, Florida?
Yes, if you violate one of the specific subsections of § 316.130 or a Hollywood city ordinance. The citation is a noncriminal pedestrian infraction with a $15 base fine plus court costs. In practice, pedestrian tickets in Hollywood and elsewhere in Broward County are uncommon, and officers more often issue warnings.
How much is a jaywalking ticket in Broward County?
The state base fine for any pedestrian infraction is $15 under § 318.18(1)(a). The Broward Clerk of Courts adds court costs and statutory surcharges, so the total on the citation is higher. Because those add-ons change, check the amount printed on the citation or the Broward Clerk's website rather than relying on a figure from a blog.
Is jaywalking a crime in Florida?
No. Section 316.130(19) makes it a noncriminal traffic infraction. It cannot result in jail time or a criminal record, and as a pedestrian violation it adds no points to a driver's license.
Can you be arrested for jaywalking in Miami or anywhere in Florida?
No. A pedestrian infraction under § 316.130 is noncriminal, and Florida officers do not arrest for noncriminal traffic infractions. The officer issues a citation, and the pedestrian either pays it or contests it under § 318.14. There are two ways a jaywalking stop can still end in handcuffs, and neither is for the jaywalking. Under § 318.14(3), willfully refusing to accept and sign the citation is a misdemeanor, so a pedestrian who refuses to sign can be arrested for the refusal. And if the officer runs the pedestrian's name and finds an outstanding warrant, the arrest is on the warrant. In Miami, Hollywood, and the rest of South Florida, the practical rule is the same: sign the ticket, and the worst outcome is a small fine.
How far from a crosswalk do you have to be before it counts as jaywalking in Florida?
Florida law does not use a distance test. The question under § 316.130(11) is whether you are crossing between two adjacent intersections that both have working traffic signals. If so, you must use a marked crosswalk no matter how far away it is. If not, you may cross mid-block anywhere as long as you yield to vehicles and cross by the shortest route. Some cities have adopted their own distance rules by ordinance, so the local code can matter.
Is jaywalking illegal in Miami?
The same state rules in § 316.130 apply in Miami, Miami Beach, Aventura, and the rest of Miami-Dade County. Several municipalities in the county also have local pedestrian ordinances. Miami-Dade recorded 1,844 pedestrian crashes and 101 pedestrian deaths in 2023, the most of any county in the state, so enforcement campaigns on specific corridors are more common there than in Broward. For a crash in the northeast part of the county, see our Aventura pedestrian accident lawyer page.
Can I sue if I was hit by a car while jaywalking in Florida?
Yes. Being outside a crosswalk does not bar a claim. Under § 768.81, a jury assigns a percentage of fault to you and to the driver, and your damages are reduced by your share. You recover nothing only if you are found more than 50% at fault. Whether you cross that line depends on the driver's speed, attention, visibility, and opportunity to avoid the collision, not simply on where you were standing. The rule is the same whether the crash happened in Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale, or Aventura; what changes is the local evidence.
Does Florida's PIP insurance cover a pedestrian who was jaywalking?
Florida's no-fault personal injury protection coverage pays regardless of fault. A pedestrian struck by a car can usually claim PIP benefits under the pedestrian's own auto policy, or a household member's policy, or, if neither exists, the policy on the vehicle that caused the injury. Fault for the crash does not reduce PIP medical benefits, but it does affect any claim against the driver for damages beyond PIP.
What should I do if a driver hit me while I was crossing outside a crosswalk?
Get medical care within 14 days to preserve PIP benefits, report the crash, and avoid giving a recorded statement to the driver's insurer before speaking with a lawyer. The insurer's first question will be about where you were crossing. Evidence that answers the more important questions about the driver's speed and attention can disappear within days, including surveillance video, vehicle event data, and witness contact information. Our guides to obtaining a Hollywood police report, body-camera footage, and Ring and Nextdoor video explain how to preserve it.
Talk With Daniel B Reinfeld, PA About a Pedestrian Accident
A pedestrian case in which the insurer claims you were jaywalking requires careful preparation. The defense will be built on where you were standing. Your case has to be built on what the driver was doing, and the evidence that proves it is time-sensitive. Surveillance footage can be overwritten, witnesses can become difficult to locate, roadway conditions can change, and vehicles containing important physical or electronic evidence can be repaired or destroyed.
Call Today. Discuss Directly With Dan. Dan Reinfeld personally handles every Hollywood pedestrian accident case the firm accepts. He is not a call center, and your case will not be passed to a case manager. He brings more than 25 years of experience, including prior insurance-defense work, so he knows how carriers evaluate comparative-fault arguments and how to answer them. Consultations are free and available by phone, Zoom, or in person, including hospital and home visits, with evening and weekend appointments when needed. There is no attorney's fee unless we recover compensation for you.
(954) 923-6110
Daniel B Reinfeld, PA
2450 Hollywood Boulevard, Suite 706
Hollywood, Florida 33020
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case depends upon its particular facts, evidence, applicable law, insurance coverage, injuries, and damages. This article is for general information and is not legal advice.
© 2026 Daniel B Reinfeld, PA. All rights reserved. Statistics and information obtained from government agencies and other third-party sources are cited to their respective sources.
Related Reading
Sources
Southern Cotton Oil Co. v. Anderson, 80 Fla. 441, 86 So. 629 (1920)
Fla. Dep't of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles, Traffic Crash Facts: Annual Report 2023
Fla. Dep't of Transp., Florida Transportation Fast Facts (Feb. 2026) and Pedestrian Safety Month release (Oct. 23, 2024)
Peter D. Norton, "Street Rivals: Jaywalking and the Invention of the Motor Age Street," 48 Technology and Culture 331 (2007)
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