Pedestrian signal (walk and don’t walk)

How to read it

The MUTCD names the two symbols the WALKING PERSON, meaning walk, and the UPRAISED HAND, meaning don’t walk. Pedestrians facing a steady walking person may start to cross, possibly in conflict with turning vehicles. Facing a flashing hand they do not start, and anyone who started on the walking person continues to the far side, or to a median or island where a device tells them to stop there. Facing a steady hand they do not enter the roadway. The walking person is white and the hand Portland orange, each at least 15 cm (6 in) high, and in a two-section signal the hand is above the walking person. A flashing walking person has no meaning and is not used. Where there is no pedestrian signal, Pennsylvania’s manual says pedestrians obey the ordinary red, yellow and green lights. This page describes the national standard and isn’t legal advice; the rules for pedestrians and drivers at a crossing are set by state law and vary from state to state.

Also searched as: crosswalk signal, don’t walk signal, flashing hand signal, pedestrian countdown signal, walk signal.

The countdown

The 2003 MUTCD added countdown signals, and the 2009 and 2023 editions require one wherever the flashing hand lasts more than 7 seconds. It shows Portland orange numbers beside the hand, counting the seconds left in the flashing hand, not during the walking person, and goes dark at zero until the next cycle. After it, a steady hand shows for at least 2 seconds before any conflicting traffic is released. The U.S. Access Board’s guidelines time the crossing at a walking speed of 1.1 m (3.5 ft) a second or less. Florida’s handbook describes the countdown as starting with the flashing hand and ending with zero and a solid hand, and tells pedestrians not to enter the crosswalk once it has started.

Signals for people who can’t see them

An accessible pedestrian signal gives the same information without the lights. The MUTCD requires it to have both an audible and a vibrotactile walk indication: an arrow on the push button that vibrates during the walk interval, and a rapid tick of eight to ten a second, or a spoken message where two buttons on one corner are less than 3 m (10 ft) apart. Between walk intervals a locator tone repeats once a second so the button can be found. The Manual explains the need: pedestrians with vision disabilities usually start to cross when they hear the traffic in front of them stop and the traffic beside them begin to move, and quiet vehicles, turns on red and complex signal operations make that harder. The U.S. Access Board’s guidelines for public rights-of-way (2023) call for audible and vibrotactile walk indications wherever pedestrian signal heads are provided; they become enforceable once the Department of Justice and the Department of Transportation adopt them. California’s handbook tells drivers that sounds such as beeping, chirping or verbal messages help blind or visually impaired pedestrians cross.

What the state manuals say

Pennsylvania’s manual tells pedestrians who see the flashing hand to finish crossing if they are in the street, and not to start if they have not left the curb. California’s says drivers must yield to pedestrians even when the Don’t Walk light is flashing. Michigan’s says the walking person means traffic must yield and pedestrians may cross, and calls the hand red, where the MUTCD specifies Portland orange. Older signals with the words WALK and DONT WALK may stay until they wear out: the 2009 MUTCD made symbols the only design for new signals.

Walk signals in Britain

British crossings use a green walking figure and a red standing figure. At older pelican crossings, Know Your Traffic Signs says, the green figure flashes before the red figure shows, meaning pedestrians should not start to cross but should continue if already on the crossing.