# 道路交通法 / Road Traffic Act — 第二十一条 (Article 21) - 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: 第二十一条 (Article 21)（軌道敷内の通行） — address `art-21` - Text in force since: 2026-07-21 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/ja/road-traffic-act/art-21 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-21 - 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. --- ### 第二十一条（軌道敷内の通行） — (Entering Railway Track Beds) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-21 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/road-traffic-act/art-21 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-21 **第一項** 車両（トロリーバスを除く。以下この条及び次条第一項において同じ。）は、左折し、右折し、横断し、若しくは転回するため軌道敷を横切る場合又は危険防止のためやむを得ない場合を除き、軌道敷内を通行してはならない。 art-21/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/road-traffic-act/art-21/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-21/par-1 A vehicle (other than a trolleybus; the same applies hereinafter in this Article and paragraph (1) of the following Article) must not enter a railway track bed, except when driving across it in order to turn left, turn right, cut across the road, or make a U-turn, or unless the driver is compelled to do so in order to prevent a hazard. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第二項** 車両は、次の各号に掲げる場合においては、前項の規定にかかわらず、軌道敷内を通行することができる。この場合において、車両は、路面電車の通行を妨げてはならない。 art-21/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/road-traffic-act/art-21/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-21/par-2 Notwithstanding the preceding paragraph, a vehicle may enter a track bed in the cases set forth in the following items. In such a case, the vehicle must not prevent streetcars from proceeding: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **一** 当該道路の左側部分から軌道敷を除いた部分の幅員が当該車両の通行のため十分なものでないとき。 art-21/par-2/item-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/road-traffic-act/art-21/par-2/item-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-21/par-2/item-1 if the width of the part of the left side of a road that does not include the track bed is insufficient for the vehicle to proceed down it; Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **二** 当該車両が、道路の損壊、道路工事その他の障害のため当該道路の左側部分から軌道敷を除いた部分を通行することができないとき。 art-21/par-2/item-2 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/road-traffic-act/art-21/par-2/item-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-21/par-2/item-2 if the vehicle cannot proceed down the part of the left side of the road that does not include the track bed due to road damage, road work, or any other obstruction; Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **三** 道路標識等により軌道敷内を通行することができることとされている自動車が通行するとき。 art-21/par-2/item-3 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/road-traffic-act/art-21/par-2/item-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-21/par-2/item-3 if the motor vehicle proceeding down the track bed is one that road signs or markings indicate is permitted to proceed down it. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第三項** 軌道敷内を通行する車両は、後方から路面電車が接近してきたときは、当該路面電車の正常な運行に支障を及ぼさないように、すみやかに軌道敷外に出るか、又は当該路面電車から必要な距離を保つようにしなければならない。 art-21/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/road-traffic-act/art-21/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-21/par-3 If a streetcar approaches from behind while a vehicle is proceeding down a track bed, the driver of the vehicle must promptly move off the track bed or maintain the necessary distance from the streetcar so as not to obstruct its regular operation. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System --- ## Cites - art-21/par-1: この条 → 道路交通法 第二十一条 (Article 21), art-21 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/road-traffic-act/art-21 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-21 - art-21/par-1: 次条第一項 → 道路交通法 第二十二条第一項 (Article 22, paragraph (1)), art-22/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/road-traffic-act/art-22/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-22/par-1 - art-21/par-2: 前項 → 道路交通法 第二十一条第一項 (Article 21, paragraph (1)), art-21/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/road-traffic-act/art-21/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-21/par-1 ## Cited by 3 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 道路交通法 第二十一条第一項（軌道敷内の通行） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/road-traffic-act/art-21/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-21/par-1 - 道路交通法 第二十一条第二項（軌道敷内の通行） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/road-traffic-act/art-21/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-21/par-2 - 道路交通法 第百二十一条第一項第八号 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/road-traffic-act/art-121/par-1/item-8 · https://japanlaw.org/l/335AC0000000105/art-121/par-1/item-8 --- ## 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