Pedestrians come first
Japanese traffic rules put protecting pedestrians above everything else. At a pedestrian crossing in particular, the pedestrian has priority — and this is a key point in the skill check (covered in detail in Chapter 6).
Priority between vehicles
- A vehicle on a priority road has priority. The priority road is shown by signs or by how the centre line is drawn.
- At an intersection with no signals where the roads are the same width, the vehicle coming from the left (from your left) has priority — "give way to the left".
- At an intersection, vehicles going straight or turning left have priority over vehicles turning right. A right-turning vehicle must not obstruct oncoming traffic going straight or turning left.
- s have priority in some situations.
- When an emergency vehicle approaches, give way (covered in Chapter 10).
⚠️ "Whoever gets there first has priority" is NOT the rule. Priority is decided by the rules, and a spirit of giving way matters.