The legal privilege to proceed across a road is called the right-of-way. Texas Transportation Code Section 552.003, often referred to as Texas’ crosswalk law—states that pedestrians have the right-of-way in crosswalks that don’t have accompanying traffic control signals. It further expresses that a motorist must yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk when the pedestrian is on their vehicle’s half of the road or getting close enough from the opposite half of the road to be in harm’s way. This law also explains that a pedestrian doesn’t have a legal right to leave the curb or another safe place and enter a crosswalk if oncoming vehicle traffic is coming quickly enough to make it impossible for a driver to stop to let them cross. Even if the pedestrian has the right-of-way, the law states they must stay at the curb until the road is clear or all oncoming motor vehicles have come to complete stops. It’s also against the law for a driver to pass another vehicle that stops to let a pedestrian cross a road. If the crosswalk has a control signal, a pedestrian has the right to cross the road on the crosswalk when the signal gives the “Walk” sign. All drivers must legally yield the right-of-way to all crossing pedestrians with the Walk sign on. When the signal says “Wait” or “Don’t Walk,” a pedestrian can’t legally enter the crosswalk, even if no oncoming traffic is present. Suppose an intersection has a traffic light but not a particular pedestrian control signal. The pedestrian is only permitted to cross the road with a green signal showing in their direction (not yellow or red). As a general rule, no matter the situation, motorists should always give pedestrians the right-of-way when they can. This is the best way to keep everyone safe. For example, if a motorist had the opportunity to stop for a pedestrian but did not and struck them instead, they wouldn’t have much of a defense.