# 道路交通法 / Road Traffic Act — 第二十八条 (Article 28) - Law: 道路交通法 (Road Traffic Act), 昭和三十五年法律第百五号 - English title "Road Traffic Act": Ministry of Justice translation - Kind: Act — the distinction between 法律 (Act), 政令 (Cabinet Order), 省令 (Ministerial Order) and 条例 (local ordinance) decides who may issue it and what it may say. - Provision: 第二十八条 (Article 28)（追越しの方法） — address `art-28` - Text in force since: 2026-07-21 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-28 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-28 - Every provision below carries its address and both URLs on the line under it. - Japanese text: e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁). English: as marked on each line below. Only the Japanese as published by the government has legal effect; the text below is a copy of it. Every English rendering below is a translation and says which kind: the Ministry of Justice's translation, or this site's machine translation, whose model and date the Sources list names. They are never merged and never substituted for one another. --- ### 第二十八条（追越しの方法） — (How to Pass) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-28 · https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-28 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-28 **第一項** 車両は、他の車両を追い越そうとするときは、その追い越されようとする車両（以下この節において「前車」という。）の右側を通行しなければならない。 art-28/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-28/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-28/par-1 When attempting to pass another vehicle, the driver of a vehicle must keep to the right side of the vehicle that the driver is attempting to pass (hereinafter referred to in this Section as the "leading vehicle"). Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第二項** 車両は、他の車両を追い越そうとする場合において、前車が第二十五条第二項又は第三十四条第二項若しくは第四項の規定により道路の中央又は右側端に寄つて通行しているときは、前項の規定にかかわらず、その左側を通行しなければならない。 art-28/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-28/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-28/par-2 Notwithstanding the preceding paragraph, when attempting to pass a leading vehicle that is traveling close to the center or the right edge of a road pursuant to Article 25, paragraph (2) or Article 34, paragraph (2) or (4), the driver of a vehicle must keep to the left side of the leading vehicle. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第三項** 車両は、路面電車を追い越そうとするときは、当該車両が追いついた路面電車の左側を通行しなければならない。ただし、軌道が道路の左側端に寄つて設けられているときは、この限りでない。 art-28/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-28/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-28/par-3 When attempting to pass a streetcar, the driver of a vehicle must keep to the left side of the streetcar; provided, however, that this does not apply if the track runs along the left edge of the road. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第四項** 前三項の場合においては、追越しをしようとする車両（次条において「後車」という。）は、反対の方向又は後方からの交通及び前車又は路面電車の前方の交通にも十分に注意し、かつ、前車又は路面電車の速度及び進路並びに道路の状況に応じて、できる限り安全な速度と方法で進行しなければならない。 art-28/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-28/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-28/par-4 In the cases referred to in the preceding three paragraphs, the driver of a vehicle that is attempting to pass another vehicle (referred to in the following Article as the "trailing vehicle") must pay due attention to the traffic coming from the opposite direction and from behind it and the traffic ahead of the leading vehicle or streetcar, and must proceed at the safest possible speed and in the safest possible manner, in keeping with the speed and course of the leading vehicle or streetcar and the road conditions. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System --- ## Cites - art-28/par-2: 第二十五条第二項 → 道路交通法 第二十五条第二項 (Article 25, paragraph (2)), art-25/par-2 — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-25/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-25/par-2 - art-28/par-2: 第三十四条第二項 → 道路交通法 第三十四条第二項 (Article 34, paragraph (2)), art-34/par-2 — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-34/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-34/par-2 - art-28/par-2: 第四項 → 道路交通法 第三十四条第四項 (Article 34, paragraph (4)), art-34/par-4 — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-34/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-34/par-4 - art-28/par-2: 前項 → 道路交通法 第二十八条第一項 (Article 28, paragraph (1)), art-28/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-28/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-28/par-1 - art-28/par-4: 前三項 → 道路交通法 第二十八条第一項 (Article 28, paragraph (1)), art-28/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-28/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-28/par-1 - art-28/par-4: 前三項 → 道路交通法 第二十八条第二項 (Article 28, paragraph (2)), art-28/par-2 — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-28/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-28/par-2 - art-28/par-4: 前三項 → 道路交通法 第二十八条第三項 (Article 28, paragraph (3)), art-28/par-3 — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-28/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-28/par-3 - art-28/par-4: 次条 → 道路交通法 第二十九条 (Article 29), art-29 — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-29 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-29 ## Cited by 4 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 道路交通法 第二十八条第二項（追越しの方法） — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-28/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-28/par-2 - 道路交通法 第二十八条第四項（追越しの方法） — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-28/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-28/par-4 - 道路交通法 第百十七条の二の二第一項第八号ヘ — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-117-2-2/par-1/item-8/sub-6 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-117-2-2/par-1/item-8/sub-6 - 道路交通法 第百十九条第一項第六号 — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-119/par-1/item-6 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-119/par-1/item-6 --- ## Sources - e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁) — 道路交通法 — the text in force from 2026-07-21 (https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/335AC0000000105/20260721_508AC0000000052), retrieved 2026-10-13 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Road Traffic Act — Ministry of Justice translation (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/2962/tb), retrieved 2026-10-13 - This site's parser, version 190 — 道路交通法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-10-13