Special Vehicles
Emergency vehicles, bus priority, streetcar rules
You only need to yield to emergency vehicles when they are directly behind you.
🚑 Special Vehicles Cheat Sheet
Key facts from this topic. Print this page for quick offline reference.
TRUE: When an emergency vehicle approaches with its siren and lights on, you must pull over to the left and stop.
All vehicles must pull over to the left side of the road and stop when an emergency vehicle (ambulance, fire truck, police car) approaches with sirens and lights active.
TRUE: When a bus signals to pull out from a bus stop, following vehicles must yield.
Japanese law specifically requires vehicles to yield to buses pulling out from bus stops.
TRUE: Streetcars (trams) always have priority over regular vehicles at intersections.
Streetcars have priority over regular vehicles at intersections in Japan.
TRUE: If a streetcar stop has a safety island (raised platform), you may pass the stopped streetcar slowly.
When a streetcar stop has a safety island for passengers, you may pass the stopped streetcar at a safe speed because passengers are protected on the island and do not need to cross your lane.
TRUE: You must yield to a school bus that has stopped with its red lights flashing.
When a school bus displays flashing red lights, vehicles must stop and not pass until the lights stop flashing.
TRUE: You should never follow an emergency vehicle closely to take advantage of the cleared path.
Following closely behind an emergency vehicle (drafting) is dangerous and illegal.
TRUE: Military vehicles on public roads must follow the same traffic rules as civilian vehicles.
Military vehicles (Self-Defense Forces) on public roads must follow standard traffic laws.
TRUE: Road maintenance vehicles displaying amber flashing lights may move slowly and require caution from other drivers.
Amber (yellow) flashing lights indicate road maintenance, construction, or other slow-moving work vehicles.
TRUE: When approaching a funeral procession, you should yield and allow it to pass without interruption.
While not a strict legal requirement, yielding to funeral processions is a strong social custom in Japan.
TRUE: At a traffic signal, if an emergency vehicle behind you has its siren on but the light is red, you should carefully proceed into the intersection to let it pass.
When an emergency vehicle is behind you at a red light, you should carefully move forward or to the left (checking for pedestrians and cross traffic) to allow the emergency vehicle to pass.
FALSE: You only need to yield to emergency vehicles when they are directly behind you.
You must yield to emergency vehicles approaching from any direction, not just from behind.
FALSE: You do not need to yield to a bus that is signaling to leave a bus stop if you have the right of way on the main road.
Buses pulling out from bus stops have legal priority regardless of your right of way on the main road.
FALSE: You may overtake a streetcar on its left side when passengers are boarding or alighting.
When a streetcar has stopped and passengers are boarding or getting off, you must stop and wait if there is no safety island.
FALSE: An ambulance with its siren off but emergency lights on still has priority over other traffic.
Emergency vehicles only have priority (the right to be yielded to) when BOTH the siren and emergency lights are activated.
FALSE: A vehicle with a flashing green light is a doctor responding to an emergency and has the same priority as an ambulance.
Green flashing lights do not grant the same priority as emergency vehicles (red/blue lights with siren).