Ch. 1 · Common Conduct

If the signal to the side is red, the signal ahead must be green.

[True / False · Medium]

Answer: ✕ False

Explanation

Article 1(2) of the Rules of the Road states that "even if the signal to the side is red, the signal ahead is not necessarily green." Special traffic lights exist, such as those where all directions are temporarily red or staggered-timing signals, so you must always check the signal ahead.

Driving school curriculumStage 1 – Topic 3: Following road signs and markings

Hikari

Oh, so if the cross street has a red light, ours must be green, right?

Yui

Actually, that's false. Some intersections use special timing where all directions are red at once, or signals that change at different moments.

Hikari

Wait, all red at the same time? I didn't know that was a thing!

Yui

Yep! That's why you always need to check your own signal, not just guess from the side ones.

Source: Ch. 1 Common Conduct · Section (第２節信号、標識・標示に従うこと) · 1 信号の意味(2)

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Source content excerpted from the NPA “Rules of the Road” instructional manual, in the public domain under Japanese Copyright Act Article 13(2). Explanations are AI-assisted and copyrighted by the MenkyoQuest editorial team.