What happens if a pedestrian is hit in a crosswalk in Washington?

By Michael Shemtoub, trial attorney, Beverly Law. Updated November 2026.

Washington’s stop-and-remain-stopped rule

RCW 46.61.235(1) says the operator of an approaching vehicle “shall stop and remain stopped” to let a pedestrian, bicycle or personal delivery device cross within a marked or unmarked crosswalk. The duty applies while the person is on, or within one lane of, the half of the roadway the vehicle is traveling on or turning onto. The statute defines “half of the roadway” as all lanes carrying traffic in one direction, and the entire width of a one-way street.

That wording asks more of drivers than a plain duty to yield. A driver cannot roll through once the walker passes the car’s own lane. On a road with two lanes each way, a driver heading north must stay stopped while you are in either northbound lane or in the southbound lane next to them. On a one-way street, the driver waits until you have crossed the whole width.

The same section adds three rules that come up often in crosswalk claims:

• A pedestrian, bicycle or delivery device may not suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety into the path of a vehicle so close that the driver cannot stop (46.61.235(2)).
• When a car has stopped at a crosswalk for someone, a driver approaching from behind may not pass it (46.61.235(4)).
• A crosswalk violation in a school, playground or crosswalk speed zone carries twice the usual fine, and the penalty may not be waived, reduced or suspended (46.61.235(5)).

Two other statutes back these up. RCW 46.61.245 says that, notwithstanding the other pedestrian rules, every driver must exercise due care to avoid any pedestrian, sound the horn when necessary and take proper precaution on seeing a child or an obviously confused or incapacitated person. RCW 46.61.261 requires drivers to yield to any pedestrian on a sidewalk, for example when a driver crosses a sidewalk at a driveway.

If you were outside the crosswalk

Outside a marked crosswalk or an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, the pedestrian must yield to all vehicles (RCW 46.61.240). Between adjacent intersections with working signals, pedestrians may cross only in a marked crosswalk, and crossing at an unmarked crosswalk is barred where an official sign prohibits it. These rules do not apply on a designated shared street. The driver’s due care duty under 46.61.245 still applies. Our jaywalking page covers mid-block crossings in all three states.

Fault and the intoxication defense

Washington uses pure comparative fault. Fault charged to the injured person “diminishes proportionately” the damages but does not bar recovery (RCW 4.22.005). A pedestrian found 60 percent at fault for starting across on a flashing hand can still recover 40 percent of the damages.

There is one exception. Under RCW 5.40.060, it is a complete defense if the injured person was under the influence of alcohol or drugs, the impairment was a proximate cause of the injury and the jury finds that person more than 50 percent at fault. Impairment is measured by the standard in the state’s DUI statute. If any of those three pieces is missing, the ordinary percentage rule applies.

Pedestrian deaths in Washington

NHTSA counted 152 pedestrians killed in Washington in 2024, a rate of 1.91 per 100,000 people (NHTSA). The Governors Highway Safety Association’s preliminary count for 2025 is 148, down 5.1 percent from its 2024 figure (GHSA). The Washington Traffic Safety Commission reports walker and roller deaths in King County fell from 60 in 2023 to 53 in 2024 and 45 in 2025 (WTSC). Its street lighting study found that from 2014 to 2023, about 70 percent of the state’s pedestrian deaths happened between dusk and dawn (WTSC lighting study).

Insurance and deadlines

Washington has a feature that helps people on foot. Its PIP law counts “a pedestrian accidentally struck by the insured automobile” as an insured (RCW 48.22.005). If the driver bought PIP, it may pay your early medical bills. The minimum benefits include $10,000 for medical and hospital care, $2,000 for funeral costs, $10,000 for lost income at up to $200 a week and $5,000 for loss of services (RCW 48.22.095). Your own underinsured motorist coverage, which insurers must include unless you rejected it in writing, can apply when the driver had no insurance or too little (RCW 48.22.030).

The general deadline to sue for an injury is three years (RCW 4.16.080). If a city or county vehicle hit you, a claim must be presented first, and no suit may be filed until 60 days after that (RCW 4.96.020). Our page on Washington’s deadline to sue after a crash has more detail.

How Washington compares

What this means for your case

Note which lane the car was in and how far across you were, because the one-lane rule turns on that distance. Video from cameras near the crossing may exist; see getting traffic camera footage in Seattle. Ask the driver’s insurer whether the policy has PIP, and keep your own policy’s declarations page. If alcohol was involved on either side, keep any test results, since RCW 5.40.060 turns on proof of impairment and causation. For Seattle claims, see our Seattle pedestrian accident page, and for the money side, read what a pedestrian case is worth. Texas cases are handled by the firm’s Texas-licensed attorneys, Joyce Ondich and John Efstathiou.

Common questions

Related pages

Injury law FAQs

Important: This page is general information, not legal or medical advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different; talk to a lawyer about yours. Texas cases are handled by the firm’s Texas-licensed attorneys, Joyce Ondich and John Efstathiou. Last reviewed: November 7, 2026.