Accidents and Breakdowns in Japan: What to Do, Railroad Crossings

What to do after an accident, in order

Article 72 requires the driver and other crew members (乗務員) of a vehicle involved in an accident to stop driving at once, help the injured and take measures to prevent danger on the road. The driver must then report to a police officer at the scene or, if none is there, immediately to the nearest police station (including a koban or residential police box). If the driver is dead or injured, another crew member reports.

The duty to report applies to property-damage-only accidents too, not just injury accidents, and settling it between the parties does not remove it. Failing to give aid in an accident that kills or injures someone is punishable by up to 5 years' imprisonment or a fine up to 500,000 yen, or up to 10 years or 1,000,000 yen if your driving caused it (Art. 117).

If you stop on an expressway after a breakdown or accident

If you can no longer drive on an expressway main lane or its shoulder, you must place a warning device (停止表示器材, such as a warning triangle) where drivers approaching from behind can see it (Art. 75-11; Enforcement Order Art. 27-6). Use the night-type device at night, and also in daytime where visibility is 200 m or less, such as in a tunnel. You must also act quickly to get the vehicle off the main lanes.

The legal duty is to display the device; carrying one at all times is not itself required. But you will be in violation if you cannot display one, so in practice keep it in the car.

Waiting in or next to the car risks being hit from behind. NEXCO Central Japan advises: warn following traffic with hazard lights, a flare and the warning device; get everyone, passengers included, to a safe spot behind the car such as outside the guardrail; then call 110, an emergency roadside phone or the road emergency number #9910.

If your car gets stuck on a railroad crossing

At a railroad crossing (踏切) you must in principle stop just before it (or before the stop line if there is one) and check that it is safe. However, if the crossing has traffic lights and you follow them, you may go through without stopping (Art. 33). Never enter while the barrier is coming down or is down, or while the alarm is sounding.

If your vehicle breaks down on the crossing, you must immediately give an emergency signal or otherwise alert railway staff, and take steps to move the vehicle off the crossing (Art. 33(3)). In practice, alerting the train comes first: press the emergency button (踏切支障報知装置) or use a flare, get your passengers out, and then try to move the car.

When an emergency vehicle approaches

What to do when an ambulance, fire engine, police car or other emergency vehicle approaches depends on where you are (Art. 40). On expressways, you also must not obstruct an emergency vehicle that is entering or leaving the main lane (Art. 75-6).

In a major earthquake or poor visibility

According to the Rules of the Road published by the National Police Agency, if a major earthquake strikes while you are driving, avoid sudden steering or braking, stop on the left side of the road as safely as you can, and get information from the car radio. If you leave the car to evacuate, move it off the road if possible; if you must leave it on the road, pull over to the left, stop the engine, leave the key in it or somewhere easy to find inside, close the windows and leave the doors unlocked so others can move it.

Do not evacuate by car unless it is unavoidable, such as escaping a tsunami. Cars cause jams and get in the way of fire and ambulance services.

Even in daytime, when visibility is 50 m or less (200 m or less on expressways etc.), such as in a tunnel or thick fog, you must turn on your headlights (Art. 52; Enforcement Order Art. 19).

Commonly mistaken patterns and practice

These questions usually flip the order or drop an exception. You need 45 of 50 correct, so practice these patterns with menkyopass's mock test in English.

• Report to the police first, then help the injured → FALSE (aid comes first)
• A property-only accident settled between the parties need not be reported → FALSE
• After a breakdown on an expressway, place the warning device and wait in the car → FALSE (evacuate outside the guardrail etc.)
• All cars must always carry a warning device by law → FALSE (the duty is to display one when stopped on an expressway)
• You must always stop before a railroad crossing → FALSE (not when following crossing signals)
• In a major earthquake, evacuate quickly by car → FALSE (as a rule, do not use the car)
• Headlights are only required at night → FALSE (also in daytime when visibility is 50 m or less)

Practice questions on this topic

• If you cause a traffic accident, you must first report it to the police, and then give aid to the injured.
• If a traffic accident only damages property and injures no one, you do not need to report it to the police as long as the parties settle it between themselves.
• The duty to give aid to people injured in a traffic accident applies not only to the driver who caused it, but also to other people who were riding in the vehicle.
• If someone is injured in an accident and there is a danger of a further crash caused by following vehicles, you may move the injured person to a safe place.
• If an injured person has hit their head hard, you should not move them unnecessarily, except in unavoidable cases such as danger of a further crash by following vehicles.
• If your car breaks down on an expressway and you stop on the road shoulder, the safe thing to do is to set out a warning device (warning triangle) and then wait inside the car for help.
• If you have to stop or park on an expressway because of a breakdown, you must place a warning device (warning triangle) behind your car.
• The law requires all motor vehicles to carry a warning device (such as a warning triangle) at all times.
• At night, if you stop or park on an expressway because of a breakdown, you must turn on your hazard lights or tail lights in addition to placing the warning device.
• If your car stops moving inside a railroad crossing, first alert the train driver, for example by pressing the emergency button, and get everyone in the car to a safe place.
• When going through a railroad crossing, you must in every case stop just before it and check that it is safe.
• If the brakes stop working while you are driving, shift to a lower gear to use engine braking, and also use the hand brake to reduce speed.
• If a major earthquake occurs while you are driving, stop the car on the left side of the road as safely as you can, stop the engine, and evacuate leaving the key in the car and the doors unlocked.
• When evacuating after a major earthquake, you should evacuate quickly by car in order to avoid traffic confusion.
• Even in the daytime, you must turn on your headlights when driving through places where you cannot see 50 meters ahead, such as inside tunnels or in fog.

FAQ

Related guides

• Japan Expressway Rules: Max 100, Min 50 km/h, Who Can't Enter
• Right of Way in Japan: Intersections, Pedestrians, Emergencies
• Driver Duties in Japan: Alcohol, Seat Belts, Phones, License
• Japan Traffic Rules That Trip Up Foreign Drivers: 6 Key Rules

Sources (in Japanese)

• e-Gov法令検索「道路交通法」（第33条・第40条・第52条・第72条・第75条の6・第75条の8・第75条の11・第117条）
• e-Gov法令検索「道路交通法施行令」（第18条・第19条・第27条の6）
• 警察庁「大地震が発生した場合に運転者がとるべき措置」（交通の方法に関する教則 抜粋）
• NEXCO中日本「もしもの時は（故障・事故の場合）」