You are 25, hold an ordinary non-probationary license, and are driving a private car on a New Hampshire road. What is the ordinary adult threshold for the law that prohibits driving based on alcohol concentration itself?
Correct answer: 0.08 or more.
Section 265-A:2 I(b) sets the ordinary adult concentration prohibition at 0.08 or more. This is not permission to drive below that level while impaired: the separate impairment prohibition in I(a) still applies.
Source: New Hampshire General Court, RSA Chapter 265-A, Alcohol or Drug Impairment; §265-A:2 I(a)–(b), reader lines 37–39; displayed history 2006, 260:1 and 2012, 267:2, effective January 1, 2013, line 42. Actual codified HTML read October 1, 2026 through the retained chapter body. Selected ordinary private-car clauses, not a DMV handbook or complete sentencing review. Future January 1, 2027 refusal provisions are not treated as current; reader lines are not PDF pages. ↗
A 20-year-old drives a private car on a New Hampshire road with an alcohol concentration of 0.02. The driver argues that only the ordinary adult 0.08 threshold matters. Which statement is correct?
Correct answer: The concentration prohibition for a person under 21 begins at 0.02 or more.
Section 265-A:2 I(b) expressly uses 0.02 or more for a person under 21. Holding a full license or driving alone does not replace that age-based threshold with the ordinary adult threshold.
Source: New Hampshire General Court, RSA Chapter 265-A, Alcohol or Drug Impairment; §265-A:2 I(b), reader line 39; displayed history 2006, 260:1 and 2012, 267:2, effective January 1, 2013, line 42. Actual codified HTML read October 1, 2026 through the retained chapter body. Selected ordinary private-car clauses, not a DMV handbook or complete sentencing review. Future January 1, 2027 refusal provisions are not treated as current; reader lines are not PDF pages. ↗
A legally prescribed medicine is impairing your ability to drive. You have consumed no alcohol. Does having a valid prescription make it lawful to drive your private car on a New Hampshire road while impaired by that medicine?
Correct answer: No. The impairment prohibition includes prescription drugs that impair the ability to drive.
Section 265-A:2 I(a) includes impairing prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs and other listed substances, whether or not alcohol is involved. A lawful prescription does not create an exemption for driving while impaired. This does not mean that every medicine causes impairment.
Source: New Hampshire General Court, RSA Chapter 265-A, Alcohol or Drug Impairment; §265-A:2 I(a), reader line 38; displayed history effective January 1, 2013, line 42; §265-A:9, other competent impairment evidence, line 118 and history effective January 1, 2013, line 119. Actual codified HTML read October 1, 2026 through the retained chapter body. Selected ordinary private-car clauses, not a DMV handbook or complete sentencing review. Future January 1, 2027 refusal provisions are not treated as current; reader lines are not PDF pages. ↗
You are arrested for an offense arising from alleged impaired driving of your private car on a New Hampshire road. An officer with reasonable grounds directs a breath test under the implied-consent law. No crash is involved. Which statement describes the consent rule in these circumstances?
Correct answer: Driving on the state’s ways is treated as consent to the qualifying tests in this statutory arrest and reasonable-grounds setting.
Section 265-A:4 provides deemed consent in its specified arrest and reasonable-grounds framework. It is not limited to crashes or to a driver who signed a separate advance form. This scenario concerns the post-arrest statutory test, not the separate preliminary breath test that may be requested without arrest under §265-A:15.
Source: New Hampshire General Court, RSA Chapter 265-A, Alcohol or Drug Impairment; §265-A:4, reader lines 69–70, displayed history effective July 1, 2017, line 74; ordinary test prerequisites §265-A:8 I, lines 109–112, history effective January 1, 2017, line 115; preliminary-test distinction §265-A:15 I, lines 197–200, history effective January 1, 2013, line 204. Actual codified HTML read October 1, 2026 through the retained chapter body. Selected ordinary private-car clauses, not a DMV handbook or complete sentencing review. Future January 1, 2027 refusal provisions are not treated as current; reader lines are not PDF pages. ↗
You are conscious and under arrest in an ordinary impaired-driving case with no death or serious-injury crash. Before an officer-directed breath test under §265-A:4, which additional-test right must you be told about and given an opportunity to request?
Correct answer: The right, at your own expense, to an additional blood test by a person of your choosing who is competent to conduct it.
Sections 265-A:7 and 265-A:8 provide the additional-test right, information and an opportunity to request it. The test is at the person’s own expense and must be conducted by a competent person. It does not replace the officer-directed test or require release from custody; inability to obtain it does not by itself exclude the officer-directed test.
Source: New Hampshire General Court, RSA Chapter 265-A, Alcohol or Drug Impairment; §265-A:7 I and III, reader lines 98–105, displayed history effective August 20, 2019, line 106; §265-A:8 I(a)–(b), lines 109–111, history effective January 1, 2017, line 115; excluded death/serious-injury and incapacity cases §265-A:4 line 72 and §265-A:13 line 149. Actual codified HTML read October 1, 2026 through the retained chapter body. Selected ordinary private-car clauses, not a DMV handbook or complete sentencing review. Future January 1, 2027 refusal provisions are not treated as current; reader lines are not PDF pages. ↗
After an impaired-driving arrest and the required warnings, a driver refuses an officer-directed test under §265-A:4. The driver assumes the refusal cannot be mentioned in any related case. What does New Hampshire law say?
Correct answer: The refusal may be admitted as evidence in a related civil or criminal action or proceeding.
Section 265-A:10 says a refusal of a test under §265-A:4 may be admissible in related civil or criminal proceedings. It does not make refusal automatic proof of guilt. The separate treatment of a preliminary breath test requested without arrest under §265-A:15 is not the scenario here.
Source: New Hampshire General Court, RSA Chapter 265-A, Alcohol or Drug Impairment; §265-A:10, reader line 122, displayed history effective January 1, 2013, line 123; preliminary-test distinction §265-A:15 I, lines 197–200, history effective January 1, 2013, line 204. Actual codified HTML read October 1, 2026 through the retained chapter body. Selected ordinary private-car clauses, not a DMV handbook or complete sentencing review. Future January 1, 2027 refusal provisions are not treated as current; reader lines are not PDF pages. ↗
A licensed private-car driver refuses a qualifying post-arrest test after the required warnings. The officer submits the statutory sworn report, but the criminal case has not yet resulted in a conviction. Can the refusal still lead to an administrative license suspension?
Correct answer: Yes. The refusal can trigger administrative suspension without first obtaining a criminal conviction, subject to the statutory notice and review process.
Sections 265-A:14 and 265-A:30 provide administrative consequences for a qualifying refusal through the officer’s sworn report and the statutory notice process. Section 265-A:31 provides administrative review or a hearing. A criminal conviction is not a prerequisite, but neither is the suspension described here as instantly effective or unreviewable. No suspension duration is stated.
Source: New Hampshire General Court, RSA Chapter 265-A, Alcohol or Drug Impairment; §265-A:14 I–II, current version effective until January 1, 2027, reader lines 156–163 and 172–174; history at line 193 identifies future 2026, 26:1, 2 amendments effective January 1, 2027; §265-A:30 I–III, lines 386–393, history effective January 1, 2025, line 397; §265-A:31 I–III, lines 400–412, history effective January 1, 2007, line 413. Actual codified HTML read October 1, 2026 through the retained chapter body. Selected ordinary private-car clauses, not a DMV handbook or complete sentencing review. Future January 1, 2027 refusal provisions are not treated as current; reader lines are not PDF pages. ↗
