Ch. 1 · Common Conduct

A lane with a bus-only lane marking cannot be used by any vehicles, so general vehicles must not enter even in emergencies.

[True / False · Medium]

Answer: ✕ False

Explanation

A bus-only lane is a regulatory marking defined by Road Traffic Act §20 and the Rules of the Road Ch.1 §2. In principle non-bus vehicles cannot use it, but exceptions exist for right/left turns, where signs or markings expressly permit it, or for emergency vehicles (§20(2)). "No vehicles can use it" and "entry prohibited in any case" are incorrect — operating hours and exception conditions must be checked.

Driving school curriculumStage 1 – Topic 2: Following traffic signals

Hikari

Bus-only means buses only, right? So we can't enter even if there's an emergency?

Yui

Actually, that's false! There are exceptions — emergency vehicles can use it, and regular cars can too when turning or where signs permit.

Hikari

Oh, so it's not as absolute as it sounds!

Yui

Exactly. Always check for operating hours and exception signs — "bus-only" has more flex than you'd think!

Source: Ch. 1 Common Conduct · Section (第２節信号) · Rules of the Road, Ch.1 §2 / 3(2) Indication markings show that a specific traffic behavior is permitted, or designate a location for a traffic purpose — examples include diagonal-crossing markings and stop-position markings. Types and meanings are listed in Appendix 3(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.