Is it allowed to reverse on highway ramps?
2 Answers
Reversing on highway ramps is not allowed and is considered illegal, resulting in a 12-point penalty. According to the Road Traffic Safety Law, parking on highway ramps is also prohibited and will incur a 6-point penalty on the driver's license. Article 17 of the "Highway Traffic Management Regulations" stipulates: When driving normally on highways, motor vehicles must adhere to the following rules: no reversing, no driving against traffic, no crossing the central divider to make U-turns or turns; no test driving or learning to drive motor vehicles; no reversing, overtaking, or parking on ramps, acceleration lanes, or deceleration lanes; no straddling or pressing lane dividers and no continuous driving in overtaking lanes; no overtaking from the right side; except in cases of obstacles, breakdowns, or other necessary stops, no arbitrary stopping, picking up/dropping off passengers, or loading/unloading goods; except for entering or exiting emergency parking strips and shoulders due to stopping, no driving on emergency parking strips or shoulders. When driving on highways, motor vehicles must not change lanes arbitrarily or continuously, must adhere to the minimum and maximum speed limits, must not stop arbitrarily, must not occupy emergency lanes, and must report emergencies to the police promptly.
Never attempt to reverse on a highway, especially in areas like ramps. I have an experienced driver friend who encountered this situation—he realized he took the wrong ramp immediately after entering and tried to reverse, only to nearly get rear-ended by a car behind him, leaving him in a cold sweat. Highways are designed for high-speed traffic, and reversing on a ramp not only disrupts the flow but can also trigger chain-reaction accidents. Traffic laws explicitly prohibit reversing or driving against traffic on highways, including entrance and exit ramps. If caught by surveillance cameras, you’ll face fines and penalty points, or even have your vehicle impounded in severe cases. So, if you find yourself on the wrong ramp or miss an exit, the safe approach is to continue driving forward, find a service area or exit, and then turn around to replan your route. Always double-check navigation and road signs before hitting the highway to avoid last-minute panic.