Stage 1 Course Content 12 — Passing Oncoming Vehicles

1. Maintaining Passing Clearance

  1. When passing an oncoming vehicle, maintain a safe distance between the vehicle and the oncoming vehicle.
  2. If any pedestrians or bicycles are near, a driver must also maintain a safe distance between the vehicle and the pedestrian or bicycle.

Reference: Passing oncoming vehicles when a safe distance is not available

  1. When a safe distance between the vehicle and an oncoming vehicle cannot be secured because the road is narrow or pedestrians or bicycles are proceeding, give way to the oncoming vehicle by bringing the vehicle to a stop, reducing speed, etc.
  2. Passing an oncoming vehicle while overtaking a bicycle, for example, requires attention to both, and is dangerous. First overtake the bicycle, then pass the oncoming vehicle, or first pass the oncoming vehicle, then overtake the bicycle.

2. Yielding Way When an Obstacle Is Present

When an obstacle is present in the course ahead, come to a stop or reduce speed beforehand and yield the road to vehicles coming in the opposite direction.

※ Avoid speeding up in an attempt to pass beside the obstacle before the oncoming vehicle. It could cause a traffic accident with the oncoming vehicle.

Reference: Driving procedure for passing oncoming vehicles when an obstacle is present When an obstacle is present in the course ahead, a driver needs to anticipate where the passing with the oncoming vehicle will occur and respond safely.

  1. Anticipate where the passing will occur based on the distance and speed of the oncoming vehicle, and judge whether there is enough room to pass safely.
  2. If there is not enough room to pass the oncoming vehicle safely, come to a stop or reduce speed and yield the road to the oncoming vehicle.

Reference: Passing oncoming vehicles on a slope, etc.

① Passing oncoming vehicles on a slope When passing an oncoming vehicle on a slope, the vehicle going down should yield the road to the vehicle going up because it is difficult for a vehicle to start moving on an upward slope. If there is a turnout near, even a vehicle going up should wait in the turnout and yield the road to the oncoming vehicle.

② Passing oncoming vehicles on a road with a drop (cliff) on one side On narrow roads with a cliff on one side where there is a risk of falling going up or down, regardless of which vehicle is going up or down, the vehicle on the cliff side should stop in a safe place and yield the road to the oncoming vehicle.

③ When traveling upward slope at low speed with a heavy load A vehicle with heavy cargo should move to the left side and yield the road to following vehicles because its speed decreases on an upward slope.

④ Passing oncoming vehicles on a mountain road in rain or snow Be careful not to move too close to the shoulder when passing oncoming vehicles, because the shoulder may have become more prone to collapse.

Let's Try — Course Content 12: Check your understanding with right/wrong questions. (See page 275 for answers.)

  1. While proceeding on a narrow road, there was a parked vehicle in the course ahead, so the driver came to a stop and allowed a bicycle proceeding in the opposite direction to proceed first.
  2. When passing an oncoming vehicle in a place with an obstacle present, the vehicle proceeding on the side the obstacle is located has the right of way.
  3. On a slope, the reason that a vehicle going down yields the road to a vehicle going up is that it is difficult for a vehicle to start moving on an upward slope.
  4. On a slope, a vehicle must give way to vehicles going up, the direction which is difficult to start moving, so even if there is a turnout close to the vehicle going up, the vehicle going down must yield the road to the vehicle going up.
  5. On a road where one side is a cliff with a risk of falling and oncoming vehicles cannot pass each other safely, the vehicle on the cliff side must come to a stop and give way.

(正: right, 誤: wrong)