Splashing Water or Mud While Driving is a Violation of the Road Traffic Act!

In Japan, it is not only a violation of social etiquette, but a serious violation of the Road Traffic Act (Tsūkō Hō・通行法) to splash water or mud onto any pedestrians when driving on a rainy day or after it rains. Drivers will not lose any points from their driver’s license, but they will be subjected to a fine of up to 7,000 yen. Depending on the situation, however, they can be charged with other violations, which may lead to criminal or civil offenses. If a driver does splash water or mud onto a pedestrian, they should handle the situation with propriety.

Please be aware that a fine is only part of administrative punishment, and that there are likely other responsibilities that should be acknowledged. In some instances, compensation may be requested, such as for the cost of cleaning the victim’s clothes, damages of personal belongings, the payment of legal fees, compensation for time off from work if the victim has to take any leave, etc. Please give pedestrians priority and remember to drive safely when driving in Japan.                       

For more details, please check the Japanese Government’s official information site, known as e-Gov. The site is available in Japanese (please note that a high level of language comprehension and special vocabulary is needed to navigate the Japanese portion of the website). Recently, an English version has been made available.

★ It is recommended for people who need assistance in interpreting the law to consult with a lawyer who has a high-level of Japanese and comprehension of specialty words.

URL: https://elaws.e-gov.go.jp/

The e-Gov website provides legal data authenticated by each government ministry regarding the Constitution, laws, government orders, imperial ordinances, government ordinances, ministerial orders, and other regulations. For data on laws and regulations that are not yet being enforced, the site provides articles which reflect the revised content by the date they are scheduled to come into effect.

The e-Gov Portal is a website developed and managed by the Digital Agency (Dejitaru Chō) with the purpose of contributing to information navigation, targeting information on policies and measures provided by administrative agencies, administrative services, various online services, etc.

URL: https://www.e-gov.go.jp/