What Is Reverse?

Reverse (R): This engages reverse gear within the transmission, giving the ability for the vehicle to drive backwards. In order for the driver to select reverse gear in modern day transmissions, they must come to a complete stop, push the transmission shift lock button in or pull the shift lever forward in the case of a column shifter and select reverse. Not coming to a complete stop can cause severe damage to the automatic transmission. Many modern automatic transmissions have a safety mechanism in place, which does to some extent prevent but does not completely avoid inadvertently putting the car or truck in reverse gear when the vehicle is moving forwards. This mechanism usually consists of a solenoid-controlled physical barrier on either side of the Reverse position, which is electronically engaged by a switch on the brake pedal. Therefore, the brake pedal needs to be depressed in order to allow the selection of reverse. Some electronic transmissions prevent or delay engagement of reverse gear altogether while the car is moving.

Some transmission shifters with a transmission shift button allow the driver to freely move the transmission shifter from R to N or D, or simply moving the transmission shifter to N or D without actually depressing the button. However, the driver cannot put back the shifter to R without depressing the shift button to prevent accidental shifting, especially at high speeds, which could damage the automatic transmission.