カテゴリー別アーカイブ: Daily Living

2 New Rules for Riding Bicycles  – Effective July 1, 2009

1. It’s now illegal to ride bicycles or motor cycles holding a mobile phone communicating, an umbrella or anything which may block your view or disturb your attention. You are subject to pay a fine up to 50,000 yen.

2. It’s now legal to have 2 children on your bicycle under the following conditions:

• a driver must be over 16 years old
• both children in the back or front seat seats must be less than 6 years old

• the bicycle must pass safety tests, be approved by Bicycle  Association (Japan), Japanese Industrial Standards Committee           
  or Consumer Product Safety Association and have a sticker from one of above, BAA, JIS, or SG.

Tips for riding bicycles:

• Do not wear shoes with high-heels.
• Select an appropriate helmet for a child. A child under 13 years of age must wear a helmet with SG mark.
• Should fasten safety belt on a child seat when carrying a child.
• Do not leave the bicycle unattended with a child on it.
• Children under 13 years or anyone over 70 years old are allowed to ride on pedestrian side walks.
• Keep to the left side of a street.
• When the traffic light for pedestrians is Green, bicycles may proceed on pedestrian’s crossing.

When you are involved in a traffic accident, you must take the following measures:

• Move the vehicle out of the way to a safe place.
• If anyone is injured, administer whatever first aid you can until a doctor or ambulance arrives.
• Call the police emergency number “110” and report the accident to the police, providing information about the location, the number of injured persons, the extent of their injuries and damage to property.

Please visit the website for Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department for details (unfortunately information in English is limited).