Accidents and emergencies

58 questions

• When an emergency vehicle approaches at or near an intersection, you must keep clear of the intersection, pull over to the left side of the road, and come to a complete stop.
• When an emergency vehicle approaches at a place other than at or near an intersection, a vehicle must always come to a complete stop.
• Emergency vehicles benefit from a broad exemption: many Road Traffic Act rules — such as prohibited-passage restrictions, lane-use rules and the duty to keep left — do not apply to them.
• An emergency vehicle never has to obey the speed limit, in any situation.
• Designated vehicles used exclusively for traffic enforcement, such as police patrol cars and motorcycles, are exempt from rules such as the duty to keep to the left side of the road and the marked-lane rules.
• Road maintenance vehicles are exempt from rules such as the duty to drive on the left half of the road even when they are not actually engaged in maintenance or repair work.
• When a traffic accident occurs, the driver and other crew of the vehicle involved must stop driving immediately, give aid to the injured, and take the steps needed to prevent danger on the road.
• If no police officer is at the accident scene, the driver must report the accident immediately to a police officer at the nearest police station (including a police box or substation).
• When reporting to the police, it is enough to give the date, time, and place of the accident; the number of casualties, the seriousness of injuries, and the extent of damage need not be reported.
• An officer who receives the report may order the driver not to leave the scene until police arrive, when the officer finds it necessary to aid the injured or prevent danger on the road.
• A driver of an emergency vehicle or a bus on duty must always personally give aid and make the report, and may never continue driving even if the duty requires it.
• A police officer at the accident scene may give the driver and crew any instructions needed to aid the injured, prevent danger, and keep traffic safe and flowing.
• If your car breaks down and cannot be driven on the main lanes of an expressway, you must display a sign showing that the vehicle is stopped due to a breakdown or similar reason.
• If your car breaks down on the main lanes of an expressway, displaying a breakdown sign is enough and you do not need to move the vehicle off the main lanes.
• When a police vehicle is taking enforcement action against a vehicle that is committing a violation, it must always sound its siren, without exception.
• A vehicle qualifies as an emergency vehicle when the Public Safety Commission designates it based on an application from the vehicle's user (certain fire and ambulance vehicles are handled by notification instead).
• A vehicle used by a public utility such as an electric power or gas company for emergency work to prevent danger can be an emergency vehicle.
• A large or ordinary motorcycle used by a prefecture or municipality to respond and give first aid to an injured or sick person can also be an emergency vehicle.
• A vehicle being escorted by a police car that is operating as an emergency vehicle is itself treated as an emergency vehicle.
• A vehicle used by a medical institution to urgently transport organs removed for transplant, or the equipment needed for that removal, can be an emergency vehicle.
• A vehicle used by a prison or other correctional facility to arrest escapees or guard inmates can be an emergency vehicle.
• A vehicle used to urgently transport blood products for transfusion can never be an emergency vehicle.
• Any police vehicle is an emergency vehicle, no matter what it is being used for.
• A vehicle used by a road administrator can never be an emergency vehicle under any circumstances.
• Vehicles used by flood control organizations when responding to flood control duties are not included among emergency vehicles.
• A vehicle used by a public prosecutor's office cannot be an emergency vehicle, even when it is used for a criminal investigation.
• A vehicle used by a medical institution, at the request of a prefecture or municipality, to carry a doctor to an injured or sick person for emergency treatment does not qualify as an emergency vehicle.
• When towing a broken-down vehicle with a rope, the gap between the towing vehicle and the towed vehicle must not exceed 5 meters.
• A red cloth at least 0.5 meters square must be attached to a clearly visible spot on the rope used to tow a broken-down vehicle.
• When a broken-down vehicle is towed with all its wheels on the road, the person sitting in it and steering does not need a driver's license.
• When towing a broken-down vehicle with its wheels on the road, the two vehicles must be securely connected with a strong rope or similar.
• When the broken-down vehicle is towed with its non-steering wheels lifted off the road, its steering wheel must be locked in place so that its steering wheels stay parallel to that vehicle's center line.
• After a traffic accident, you should move your vehicle to a safe place such as the road shoulder or an open space where it will not obstruct other traffic, and switch off the engine.
• An injured person with a head injury must always be moved to another place before the ambulance arrives.
• If there is a risk of a following vehicle crashing into the scene, you should quickly rescue the injured person and move them to a safe place.
• You must report to the police the place of the accident, the number and severity of injuries, the extent of property damage, and what the vehicles were carrying, and then follow their instructions.
• A route bus driver must always personally carry out first aid and report to the police after an accident, and may never continue driving.
• If the injury is only slight, there is no need to report it to the police.
• If you have no choice but to park on an expressway, you must stop the car on the shoulder or in a marked roadside strip (rosokutai) so that you do not obstruct other traffic.
• At night, if you must stop your car on an ordinary road, turning on the hazard lights or setting out a warning device is entirely optional.
• At night on an expressway, if you have placed a warning device behind your car, you do not need to switch on the hazard lights, parking lights, or tail lights.
• When you have to tow a broken-down car with an ordinary vehicle, keeping the gap between the two cars within 10 meters is sufficient.
• When towing a broken-down car with a rope, you must attach a white cloth measuring at least 30 cm by 30 cm to the rope.
• If you learn while driving that an earthquake warning declaration has been issued, you should stay calm, drive slowly, and keep listening to earthquake and traffic information on the car radio.
• If you must leave your car on the road and evacuate, you should take the ignition key with you and lock the doors to prevent theft.
• If a warning declaration is issued while you are not driving, you must never use a car, not even to escape from a tsunami.
• The Emergency Earthquake Alert is issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency before the shaking arrives, when the expected shaking is roughly intensity 5-lower or more, covering areas where intensity 4 or more is expected.
• The earthquake warning declaration is issued by the governor of the prefecture concerned.
• When you learn of an Emergency Earthquake Alert while driving, you must brake hard and stop the car immediately.
• For the anticipated Tokai earthquake, all of Shizuoka Prefecture plus parts of seven other prefectures (Tokyo, Kanagawa, Yamanashi, Nagano, Gifu, Aichi and Mie) are designated as Areas under Intensified Earthquake Disaster Countermeasures (kyoka-chiiki).
• If a major earthquake occurs while you are driving, you should avoid sudden steering or braking and stop the car on the right side of the road.
• After stopping your car in a major earthquake, listen to earthquake and traffic information on the car radio and act according to that information and your surroundings.
• If you keep driving after a major earthquake, pay close attention to road damage, traffic lights that have stopped working, and obstacles on the road.
• Under the Disaster Countermeasures Basic Act, when urgently necessary for emergency disaster response, vehicles other than emergency vehicles can be banned or restricted from passing.
• When traffic is restricted by designating an AREA, it is enough to move your car to a non-restricted road inside that area.
• Even if a car blocks emergency vehicles in a restricted zone, police officers are never allowed to damage that car.
• When an emergency vehicle approaches at or near an intersection, you must move into the intersection, pull to the right and stop.
• An emergency vehicle approached near an intersection, so I kept clear of the intersection, pulled to the left and stopped.