Reversing direction — New Hampshire Permit Test
Reversing direction on the New Hampshire permit test — 3 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
If a driver misses an exit on a divided highway they should drive to the next exit to reverse direction, and never stop, back up or try to turn around.
Everything behind you on a divided highway is arriving at speed and has no idea you have stopped.
If a driver misses an exit on a divided highway, they should drive to the next exit to reverse direction. Drivers should never stop, back up or try to turn around.
U-turns can be extremely dangerous and are not legal everywhere, so a driver should first check for signs indicating that U-turns are prohibited.
A U-turn crosses both directions of traffic at once and takes longer than a driver expects it to.
If a driver must reverse direction, the driver should first check to see if it there are any signs indicating that U-turns are prohibited.
To reverse direction safely a driver should pull over to the shoulder on the right using the turn signal and wait for the road to be clear of vehicles.
Starting from a stop at the side of the road means the driver can wait for a real gap rather than judging one at speed.
shoulder of the road on the right using the turn signal and wait for the road to be clear of vehicles.
On the test
What should a driver who misses an exit on a divided highway do?
Drive to the next exit. Everything behind you on a divided highway is arriving at speed and has no idea you have stopped. New Hampshire Driver's Manual, p.25: “If a driver misses an exit on a divided highway, they should drive to the next exit to reverse direction. Drivers should never stop, back up or try to turn around.”
How this works
Most practice tests hand you a bank of questions and leave the manual somewhere else. This one puts them together.
You read one law and the reason behind it, then answer a question on that law while it is still fresh. Get it right and you move on; get it wrong and you have found the gap while it is cheap to fix, not on the morning of the exam.
Learning one rule at a time, and proving it immediately, is what turns a manual you skimmed into something you actually know — and it makes studying feel like getting somewhere rather than like waiting to find out.
What it costs
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All New Hampshire permit topics
Where these come from
Every rule here is checked against New Hampshire Driver's Manual, published by the New Hampshire Division of Motor Vehicles, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-09-16.
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/NH.pdf (New Hampshire Driver's Manual, Rev. 11/25, New Hampshire Division of Motor Vehicles, retrieved 2026-09-14)
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/NH.pages.txt (plain pdftotext over that PDF; sha256 pinned in SOURCES.json)
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/SOURCES.json (sha256, folio offset 6, folioMarker, nonLawPages, signGalleryPages and the extraction flag, each with its basis)