# 道路交通法 / Road Traffic Act — 第三条 (Article 3) - 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: 第三条 (Article 3)（自動車の種類） — address `art-3` - Text in force since: 2026-07-21 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-3 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-3 - 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. --- ### 第三条（自動車の種類） — (Motor Vehicle Types) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-3 · https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-3 **第一項** 自動車は、内閣府令で定める車体の大きさ及び構造並びに原動機の大きさを基準として、大型自動車、中型自動車、準中型自動車、普通自動車、大型特殊自動車、大型自動二輪車（側車付きのものを含む。以下同じ。）、普通自動二輪車（側車付きのものを含む。以下同じ。）及び小型特殊自動車に区分する。 art-3/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-3/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-3/par-1 A motor vehicle is classified on the basis of the standards that Cabinet Office Order prescribes for body size, structure, and engine size, as standard motor vehicle, mid-sized motor vehicle, semi-mid-sized motor vehicle, large motor vehicle, special small motor vehicle, special large motor vehicle, standard motorcycle (including one with a sidecar; the same applies hereinafter), or large motorcycle (including one with a sidecar; the same applies hereinafter). Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System ## Cited by 9 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 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 第二条第一項第四号イ（危険運転致死傷） — https://japanlaw.org/en/dangerous-driving-act/art-2/par-1/item-4/sub-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/425AC0000000086/art-2/par-1/item-4/sub-1 - 道路交通法 第二条第三項第二号（定義） — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-2/par-3/item-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-2/par-3/item-2 - 道路交通法 附則第二条第一項第二号（免許等に関する経過措置） — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/suppl-4071-74/art-2/par-1/item-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/suppl-4071-74/art-2/par-1/item-2 - 道路交通法 附則第三条第一項 — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/suppl-4071-74/art-3/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/suppl-4071-74/art-3/par-1 - 道路交通法 附則第六条第一項第二号（免許等に関する経過措置） — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/suppl-4161-90/art-6/par-1/item-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/suppl-4161-90/art-6/par-1/item-2 - 道路交通法 附則第六条第一項第三号（免許等に関する経過措置） — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/suppl-4161-90/art-6/par-1/item-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/suppl-4161-90/art-6/par-1/item-3 - 道路交通法 附則第二条第一項第二号（免許等に関する経過措置） — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/suppl-4271-40/art-2/par-1/item-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/suppl-4271-40/art-2/par-1/item-2 - 道路交通法 附則第二条第一項第三号（免許等に関する経過措置） — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/suppl-4271-40/art-2/par-1/item-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/suppl-4271-40/art-2/par-1/item-3 - 道路交通法 附則第二条第一項第五号（免許等に関する経過措置） — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/suppl-4271-40/art-2/par-1/item-5 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/suppl-4271-40/art-2/par-1/item-5 --- ## 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