Jaywalking occurs when a
pedestrian crosses a roadway where regulations do not permit doing so. Examples include a pedestrian crossing between intersections without yielding to drivers and starting to cross a
crosswalk at a
signalized intersection without waiting for a permissive indication to be displayed. In the
United States, state statutes generally reflect the
Uniform Vehicle Code in requiring drivers to yield the right of way to pedestrians at crosswalks; at other locations, crossing pedestrians are either required to yield to drivers or, under some conditions, are prohibited from crossing. The term's dissemination in the 1920s and 1930s was due in part to the introduction of the automobile.