Gov. Gavin Newsom Enacts Bill Decriminalizing Most Jaywalking in California

California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks onstage during Vox Media's 2022 Code Conference in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Sept. 7, 2022. (Jerod Harris/Getty Images for Vox Media)

California’s Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom has signed into law a bill decriminalizing jaywalking, in most cases.

Newsom signed Assembly Bill 2147 on Friday. Authored by Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-Calif.), the bill is also called “The Freedom to Walk Act” and legalizes safe street crossings. “This bill would prohibit a peace officer, as defined, from stopping a pedestrian for specified traffic infractions unless a reasonably careful person would realize there is an immediate danger of collision with a moving vehicle or other device moving exclusively by human power,” the bill states.

In a press release on Sept. 30, Ting blamed jaywalking laws on the 1930s’ auto industry. During that time, there was a spike in deadly car accidents, and the auto industry was looking to “shift the blame from drivers to pedestrians.”

Most street designs only take into account the needs of drivers and not those who choose to walk, it said. Plus, under-resourced communities tend not to have infrastructure like crosswalks or pedestrian-crossing buttons.

The bill is scheduled to come into effect on Jan.1, 2023. The police will not be able to use jaywalking as a “pretext” to detain someone, the release stated.

“It should not be a criminal offense to safely cross the street. When expensive tickets and unnecessary confrontations with police impact only certain communities, it’s time to reconsider how we use our law enforcement resources and whether our jaywalking laws really do protect pedestrians,” Ting said.

Past Deaths, Other States

California has seen multiple deaths involving jaywalking. Around four years ago, a resident, Chinedu Okobi, ended up being killed by San Mateo County deputies in Millbrae while they attempted to arrest him on jaywalking charges.

In 2017, another resident was beaten up by Sacramento police after stopping him for jaywalking. The individual suffered serious injuries.

In September 2020, police shot Kurt Reinhold for jaywalking. Prior to the incident, the officers were arguing about whether Reinhold needed to be pulled up for jaywalking or not.

Other states have taken action against jaywalking laws. In 2021, Nevada and Virginia, for example, both decriminalized jaywalking. In Missouri, Kansas City decriminalized jaywalking last year.

In 2020, more than 7,000 pedestrians were killed on roads due to crashes involving motor vehicles, which comes to around a death every 75 minutes, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

One in six people who died in crashes that year were pedestrians. An estimated 104,000 emergency-room visits were recorded of pedestrians who were treated for non-fatal injuries due to crashes.