Legal Definitions - Street

A street is a public road or paved passageway in a town or city that is owned and maintained by the municipality for public use. It is a place where people can walk, drive, or ride their bikes. A street usually includes sidewalks, but a private road cannot be a street.

For example, in Florida, a street includes “all public roads or ways within municipality over which it has jurisdiction and as to which it owes public duty to exercise reasonable care to keep and maintain them in reasonably safe condition for public use.” This means that the municipality is responsible for making sure that the street is safe for everyone to use.

In Virginia, the “fundamental idea of a ‘street’ is not only that it is public, but that it is public for all purposes of free and unobstructed passage, which is its chief and primary use.” This means that a street is meant to be used by everyone and should not be blocked or obstructed in any way.