lol, I don’t think that’s what they said. As an objective fact, legally a person crossing the street outside a crosswalk or against a light is doing so unlawfully. That in no way implies that a driver should not yield in that circumstance, and in practice cars defer to them anyway. That doesn’t mean someone should just walk into the middle of the street whenever they feel like it.

That being said, if an accident ever occurred and there was a lawsuit, the pedestrian can collect damages if they are found by a jury to be any number less than 50% responsible.