Is it Illegal to Reverse in an Intersection?

Being stuck in traffic leads people to make curious decisions and engage in magical thinking. For instance, many drivers idling near a congested intersection seem to believe that once they enter, that intersection will magically clear for them despite all evidence to the contrary. That sometimes leads people stuck in an intersection to put their tails between their legs and back up to clear it. We all recognize that as bad driving, but is it illegal?

Although driving is a tightly regulated activity, there are still grey areas. In spite of — or perhaps because of — the large number of rules, drivers sometimes run into situations where the correct course of action isn’t clear. In this series of articles, we will seek to answer whether a variety of driving behaviours are explicitly illegal or just bad, and this week, we’re tackling backing up in an intersection.

Unfortunately, there is no simple, nationwide answer to the question of whether or not backing up in an intersection is illegal. However, all Canadians run the risk of getting a ticket if they back up in an intersection, though the specifics of why change from province to province.

Section 193 of the British Columbia Motor Vehicle Act states that “a driver must not cause a vehicle to back into an intersection or over a crosswalk.” Similarly, section 33 of Alberta’s Use of Highway and Rules of the Road Regulation prohibits reversing in an intersection. In the latter province, a driver can expect a penalty of $162, including the victims of crime surcharge, while those in the former can expect a $121 fine and two Driver Penalty Points, representatives from the provinces’ ministries of transportation told us. Over in Quebec, which also has a law on the books prohibiting this behaviour, the penalty is a fine of between $60 and $120 and up to three demerit points.

Not all provinces are so specific in their wording, though. As we discussed in our article about backing up on the highway, most provinces have laws clearly stating that a driver should only reverse when it is safe to do so and when it doesn’t impede traffic. As a result, if you backed up in an intersection, and a police officer felt you were being irresponsible, they could likely ticket you.

Ontario is an interesting case. Although it has specific rules against reversing on divided highways, no such rule exists regarding intersections. As with other provinces, there are mechanisms in place to punish people who drive irresponsibly.

For starters, “no one can drive a vehicle or streetcar on a highway without due care and attention or without reasonable consideration for other persons using the highway,” Shannon Eames, a media relations officer with the Toronto Police Service told AutoTrader via email. “That is for operators going forward, backwards, or starting from a stopped position. This applies anywhere on the highway, intersection-related or not.”

She added that drivers could also find themselves in hot water for the circumstances that led them to try to back out of an intersection.

“No driver should enter an intersection on a green light, unless traffic in front of him or her is moving in a manner that would reasonably lead them to believe that they can clear the intersection before the light turns red,” Officer Eames said.

She reasoned that if a driver is careful not to enter an intersection when there is no way to exit it, they shouldn’t get stuck. However, she admitted that the Highway Traffic Act makes an exception for drivers making a left or right turn. In that case, she said if a driver becomes stuck in an intersection, it is recommended that they complete their turn safely rather than reversing. 

While reversing in an intersection won’t necessarily get all Canadians a ticket, it could. Even if you don’t get a fine, you probably shouldn’t select reverse because, as Officer Eames told us, “backing on a roadway is a very dangerous idea, especially within an intersection.”