# 道路交通法 / Road Traffic Act — 第三十九条 (Article 39) - 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: 第三十九条 (Article 39)（緊急自動車の通行区分等） — address `art-39` - Text in force since: 2026-07-21 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-39 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-39 - 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. --- ### 第三十九条（緊急自動車の通行区分等） — (Traffic Distributions and Related Considerations for Emergency Motor Vehicles) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-39 · https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-39 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-39 **第一項** 緊急自動車（消防用自動車、救急用自動車その他の政令で定める自動車で、当該緊急用務のため、政令で定めるところにより、運転中のものをいう。以下同じ。）は、第十七条第五項に規定する場合のほか、追越しをするためその他やむを得ない必要があるときは、同条第四項の規定にかかわらず、道路の右側部分にその全部又は一部をはみ出して通行することができる。 art-39/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-39/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-39/par-1 Notwithstanding Article 17, paragraph (4), an emergency motor vehicle (meaning a fire truck, ambulance, or other motor vehicle that Cabinet Order prescribes which is used for emergency services pursuant to Cabinet Order; the same applies hereinafter) may stray fully or partially onto the right side of a road beyond as prescribed in Article 17, paragraph (5), if it needs to do so in order to pass or if there are other compelling circumstances. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第二項** 緊急自動車は、法令の規定により停止しなければならない場合においても、停止することを要しない。この場合においては、他の交通に注意して徐行しなければならない。 art-39/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-39/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-39/par-2 An emergency motor vehicle is not required to stop even if stopping is required pursuant to laws and regulations. In such a case, the driver of an emergency motor vehicle must drive at reduced speed, paying attention to other traffic. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System --- ## Cites - art-39/par-1: 第十七条第五項 → 道路交通法 第十七条第五項 (Article 17, paragraph (5)), art-17/par-5 — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-17/par-5 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-17/par-5 - art-39/par-1: 同条第四項 → 道路交通法 第十七条第四項 (Article 17, paragraph (4)), art-17/par-4 — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-17/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-17/par-4 ## Cited by 1 provision cites this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 道路交通法 第四十一条の二第三項（消防用車両の優先等） — https://japanlaw.org/en/road-traffic-act/art-41-2/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-41-2/par-3 --- ## 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