Ch. 1 · Common Conduct

When a police officer has both arms extended horizontally, how should vehicles respond?

[Multiple choice · Hard]

Answer: B: Traffic to the sides of the officer's body may proceed, but traffic in front must stop

Explanation

According to the Rules of the Road, a police officer's hand signal with both arms extended horizontally means "traffic to the sides may proceed, traffic in front must stop." Vehicles traveling perpendicular to the officer's body may proceed, while vehicles facing the front or back of the officer must stop.

Driving school curriculumStage 1 – Topic 2: Following traffic signals

Hikari
Hikari
Arms out like that? I'd guess everyone stops, like a big halt signal.
Yui
Yui
Close, but not quite! Traffic on the sides of the officer's body can go, but anything facing the front or back has to stop.
Hikari
Hikari
So it's like the officer's body is a wall — you can't drive through them?
Yui
Yui
Perfect way to remember it! The arms open up the sides, but block the front and back.

Source: Ch. 1 Common Conduct · Section (第2節 信号) · Rules of the Road, Ch.1 §2 (Signals, Signs & Markings) / 1. Signals: Drivers must obey traffic-signal lights. When a police officer or traffic-directing officer is controlling traffic by hand signals or flashlight, those signals override the traffic-signal lights.

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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.