(じてんしゃ)

bicycle

(いはん)

violation; infringement

(あおきっぷ)

"blue ticket" (traffic citation with a fine)

(はじまる)

to begin

(はんとし)

half a year

(ことし)

this year

(こうつういはん)

traffic violation

(つかう)

to use

(さい)

years old

(いじょう)

more than; beyond this

(ひと)

person / people

(たいしょう)

target, subject (of eligibility)

(はんそくきん)

fine (for a traffic violation)

(はらう)

to pay

(これまで)

until now / so far

(ちゅうい)

caution, warning

(だけ)

only, just

(おわる)

to end

(おおい)

many

(たとえば)

For example

(すまーとふぉん)

smartphone

(みる)

to see, watch

(のる)

to ride, board

(かさ)

umbrella

(さす)

to put up (an umbrella)

(しんごう)

traffic signal, traffic light

(まもる)

to protect

(ばあい)

case; situation

(かかわる)

to be involved in, to relate to

(じこ)

accident; incident

(まだ)

still; yet

(すくない)

few, scarce

(けいさつ)

police

(くるま)

car

(るーる)

rule

(あんぜん)

safety

(よびかける)

to call out; to appeal

passive form

The passive marks the subject as the one affected. 頭を打たれる means having your head struck by something.

come to / reach the point where

Indicates a change in state or ability.

if / when (natural consequence)

Conditional と indicating a natural or expected result. 一緒に捨てると…火が出て means 'if you throw them away together, fire starts.'

must ~

Expresses strong obligation. Here the imperative to eliminate nuclear weapons.

often / frequently happens that ~

Used to indicate something happens often. Here かかることが多い (often happens that ~ catches it).

while doing ...

Verb stem + ながら indicates doing two things simultaneously. The action before ながら is the secondary action; the main action follows.

doing things like ~ and ~

Lists representative actions among several. Implies there are other actions too. Used twice in this article.

to become

Expresses a change of state; Kawai became the new commissioner of the Sports Agency.

polite negative of i-adjectives

An i-adjective drops い and takes くありません for the polite negative. 少なくありません literally says "are not few" — a understated way of saying there are quite a lot of them.

similarly to ~ / the same as ~

Used in '風邪と同じように' — symptoms come out the same way as a cold.

(ask/urge someone) to ~

安全に乗るように呼びかけています reports the police urging cyclists to ride safely.

is doing, has been doing (ongoing state/action)

Expresses a continuing action or resulting state. Formed with て-form + いる. Can describe an action in progress or a state resulting from a past change.

自転車の違反に「青切符」　始まって半年

"Blue tickets" for bicycle violations: six months since the start

今年の4月から、自転車の交通違反に「青切符」が使われるようになりました。

Since April this year, "blue tickets" have been used for bicycle traffic violations.

16歳以上の人が対象で、違反をすると反則金を払わなければなりません。

They apply to people aged 16 and over, and anyone who commits a violation must pay a fine.

これまでは、注意だけで終わることが多かったです。

Until now, it often ended with just a warning.

例えば、スマートフォンを見ながら自転車に乗ると、反則金は1万2000円です。

For example, riding a bicycle while looking at a smartphone carries a fine of 12,000 yen.

傘をさしながら乗ったり、信号を守らなかったりした場合も、対象になります。

Cases such as riding while holding an umbrella or ignoring traffic signals are also covered.

自転車がかかわる事故は、まだ少なくありません。

Accidents involving bicycles are still not uncommon.

警察は、自転車も車と同じようにルールを守って、安全に乗るように呼びかけています。

The police are calling on cyclists to follow the rules just like cars and to ride safely.