A user of a vehicle or streetcar or any other person responsible for maintaining the equipment of a vehicle or streetcar, or a driver, must not cause to be driven, or drive, a vehicle or streetcar whose equipment fails to conform to what is prescribed in Chapter III of the Road Transport Vehicle Act or an order under it (or, for a motor vehicle used by the Self-Defense Forces to which the provisions of that Act do not apply, what is established by the Minister of Defense under Article 114, paragraph (2) of the Self-Defense Forces Act (Act No. 165 of 1954); the same applies hereinafter) or in Article 14 of the Act on Rail Tracks or an order under it, and which is therefore likely to cause a traffic hazard or be a nuisance to others (referred to as an "improperly maintained vehicle" in paragraph (1) of the following Article and Article 71-4-2, paragraph (2), item (i)).