# Driving and transport — Japanese laws in English — japanlaw.org

This is the Markdown twin of https://japanlaw.org/en/laws/transport. Every law, and how to address a provision: https://japanlaw.org/llms.txt. The same laws as MCP tools (no sign-in): https://japanlaw.org/mcp.

Japan's road traffic law in English: rules of the road and driving licences, vehicle registration and inspection, and compulsory car insurance.

- Driving and transport (交通): 4 laws on this topic, each Act (法律) with the orders that go with it — Cabinet Orders (政令) and Ministerial Orders (省令) — listed beneath it, then the laws at home in another topic that this one lists too.
- Each law links to its page; its Markdown twin is the same path under /md. The descriptions are this site's own summaries, not the law's words.
- Only the Japanese as published by the government has legal effect.

## Laws

- [道路交通法 / Road Traffic Act](https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act): 昭和三十五年法律第百五号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-07-21 · 355 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. The rules of the road in Japan for pedestrians, cyclists, drivers and trams, the driving licence system, and the penalties and fixed-payment procedure for breaking them. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/road-traffic-act
- [自動車損害賠償保障法 / Act on Securing Compensation for Automobile Accidents](https://japanlaw.org/en/automobile-accident-compensation-act): 昭和三十年法律第九十七号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-04-01 · 115 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. Makes whoever puts a car into use for their own purposes answer, with narrow exceptions, for the deaths and injuries its operation causes, requires cars to carry compulsory liability insurance, and has the government compensate people hurt where the car's holder is unknown or the person liable has no compulsory cover. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/automobile-accident-compensation-act
- [道路運送車両法 / Road Transport Vehicle Act](https://japanlaw.org/en/road-transport-vehicle-act): 昭和二十六年法律第百八十五号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-04-01 · 224 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. The rules for vehicles on Japan's roads: registering who owns a car, its number plate, the safety standards it must meet, its inspection and maintenance, the repair businesses that work on it, and manufacturers' fixes for defects. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/road-transport-vehicle-act

## Also on this topic

- [自動車の運転により人を死傷させる行為等の処罰に関する法律 / Act on Punishment of Acts Inflicting Death or Injury on Others by Driving a Motor Vehicle, etc.](https://japanlaw.org/en/dangerous-driving-act): 平成二十五年法律第八十六号 · Act (法律) · text in force since 2026-07-21 · 6 articles in the main text · English: 100% of paragraphs. It sets the punishments for injuring or killing someone by driving a motor vehicle dangerously, under the influence of alcohol, drugs or illness, or carelessly, and heavier ones where the driver had no licence. Markdown: https://japanlaw.org/md/en/dangerous-driving-act

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