Japan's new speed limit for narrow residential roads took effect on September 1, lowering the maximum speed from 60 kilometers per hour to 30 kilometers per hour. The revised enforcement ordinance under the Road Traffic Act applies to general roads without center lines or median strips, primarily affecting narrow residential streets and local roads used in daily life.
The change marks the first reduction in the statutory maximum speed on general roads since the Road Traffic Act was enacted in 1960. Residential roads are generally defined as those with a carriageway width of less than 5.5 meters and no center line or median strip. Of Japan's approximately 1.22 million kilometers of general roads, about 870,000 kilometers, or 70%, are less than 5.5 meters wide, meaning many will be covered by the new limit.
The measure is intended to reduce serious accidents, as the pedestrian fatality rate rises sharply when a vehicle is traveling at more than 30 kph. According to the National Police Agency, the combined number of children aged 15 or younger and people aged 65 or older killed in traffic accidents on residential roads fell from 455 in 2015 to 288 in 2021. The figure had hovered around that level before rising for the first time in three years, reaching 315 in 2025.
Data cited by the NPA also show that in collisions between vehicles and pedestrians, the pedestrian fatality rate is less than 1% when the vehicle is traveling at 30 kph or less. The rate rises to 2.7% at speeds between 30 and 40 kph, and to 17.4% at speeds between 50 and 60 kph.
Exceptions to the new rule apply where signs or road markings indicate speed limits such as 40 or 20 kph; those limits continue to apply. The maximum speed remains 60 kph on multilane roads and other roads not covered by the new rule. On relatively wide roads without center lines, including regional agricultural roads, authorities will install speed-limit signs suited to local road conditions.
Driving on the affected residential roads at 60 kilometers per hour — 30 kilometers over the new limit — may result in suspension of a driver's license and a fine of up to 100,000 yen, or about 625 dollars.
The National Police Agency says the total number of traffic accidents across the country has been declining year by year, but the rate of accidents on residential roads narrower than 5.5 meters has remained almost unchanged. Many of these roads are designated as school routes, and the revised rule aims to prevent children, elderly pedestrians, and cyclists from being involved in serious traffic accidents.
NPA Commissioner General Yoshinobu Kusunoki said at a news conference, "We ask drivers to recognize that particular care is needed on roads shared by motor vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists."