Michigan is the only State that does not have a law requiring motor vehicles to yield to pedestrians in a crosswalk. It does have an administrative rule that makes failure to yield a civil infraction, but this only applies to half of the crosswalk and is little known and never enforced.

Here’s what the City used as it’s basis for the ordinance (an administrative rule):

R 28.1702 Rule 702. Pedestrians; right-of-way in crosswalk; violation
as civil infraction.
(1) When traffic-control signals are not in place or are not in operation, the driver of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way, slowing down or stopping if need be to so yield, to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a crosswalk when the pedestrian is on the half of the roadway on 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, but a pedestrian shall not suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or run into a path of a vehicle that is so close that it is impossible for the driver to yield.
(2) A person who violates this rule is responsible for a civil infraction.
History: 1979 AC; 1981 AACS; 2002 AACS.

MVC 257.612(ii) applies only to cars turning right on red, not to crosswalks in general. As far as I can tell Michigan is the only State that does not give pedestrians the right-of-way in a crosswalk.

The difference is that Ann Arbor’s ordinance requires drivers stop, not just yield — and that ‘approaching’ rather than ‘in’ is the indicator. I drove across town yesterday with a skeptic in the car — and pointed out how drivers were stopping safely along Plymouth and at the Broadway Bridge, pedestrians were crossing, and we were all safe.

I think the least confusing thing would be to align Ann Arbor’s law with the rest of the US. Most other States require vehicles to yield to pedestrians in a crosswalk. This doesn’t require any subjective judgement as to whether the pedestrian is approaching the crosswalk. It does require that drivers pay attention, something they’ve not been used to doing.

Eventually the pedestrians will learn to cross the street instead of standing on the corner waiting for a gap, and the drivers will learn to recognize when pedestrians are trying to cross. This will take time. It will be well worth the effort.

I’m with the pedestrian at Crest and Liberty who didn’t want to cross with oncoming traffic from the other direction. I’ve been observing my own ability to notice pedestrians while watching all traffic conditions (like drivers who go through red lights, cyclists ditto, side street eruptions, etc.). Even when I am attempting to be very alert and careful, I think I would have trouble seeing a pedestrian entering the road from the other side of the street, especially if I am traveling at 35 mph.

I’d like to see a serious investment in signage, signalization and pedestrian refuges for busy streets, with clearly painted crosswalks as many places as possible (there should be some sort of traffic metric that could determine need) and good enforcement and education for stopping for pedestrians IN crosswalks. And wouldn’t pedestrians get more respect if we had sanctions against jaywalking?

I appreciate the careful consideration of this issue by Council.