Is It Illegal To Back Out Of Your Driveway In New York State?

Here's a question from your drivers test you probably forgot existed- Is it illegal to back out of your driveway in New York State?

Is It Illegal to Back Out of a Driveway in New York State?

According to smarterhomemaker.com, New York permits backing out of driveways. That's providing it is done so with safety and caution.

Just like in Connecticut, a motorist backing onto the roadway must yield to any oncoming traffic."

 

So how was this even a question?

In the United States and most of Canada, there are no traffic laws that specifically prohibit backing out of a driveway. This main question got our heads thinking when in Massachusetts the same question was asked.

However, laws do exists in certain places that prevent this...

Ontario, Canada does have laws against backing onto highways with a divided median. Legality aside, reversing out of the driveway does make you the responsible party if an accident results.

Some states in the United States have specific traffic provisions that state that reversing onto a road may only be done if the driver can do so without interfering with traffic.

Should You Back into Your Driveway?

smarterhomemaker.com does add that backing into your driveway is preferable for many reasons:

1) Collisions caused by motorists reversing into traffic, called backover accidents, cause about 30,000 accidents and 300 deaths each year.

2) Backing into the driveway makes it easier to pull out into traffic when ready to leave.

3) Drivers’ vision and line-of-sight will also be better when facing forward instead of looking through mirrors and over their shoulder.

4) In the winter, backing into the driveway makes it easier to get out in the event of snow and ice.