Impaired driving penalties — New Hampshire Permit Test
Impaired driving penalties on the New Hampshire permit test — 5 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
A first conviction for driving under the influence or with excess alcohol concentration is a Class B misdemeanor.
Naming the class is how a learner sees this is a criminal charge on a record, not a ticket that goes away when it is paid.
shall be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor
A first conviction for impaired driving carries a fine of not less than $500.
Five hundred dollars is the floor, not the whole cost. Insurance and the loss of the license cost far more than the fine.
fined not less than $500
A first conviction for impaired driving may bring a loss of driving privileges for a period of 9 months to 2 years.
Most of a year without a license is what the first offense actually costs, and that is before the second one is considered.
may face a loss of driving privileges for a period of 9 months to 2 years
A driver convicted of impaired driving must attend an approved impaired driver education program before driving privileges are restored.
Paying the fine and waiting out the suspension is not enough. The state wants the driver taught before it gives the license back.
will be required to attend an approved impaired driver education program prior to restoration of driving privileges.
Second and subsequent impaired-driving convictions carry higher fines, longer suspension times and stronger penalties.
The penalties climb because a second conviction says the first one did not change anything.
Second and subsequent convictions subject the offender to higher fines, longer suspension times, and stronger penalties.
On the test
What offense class is a first conviction for impaired driving?
A Class B misdemeanor. Naming the class is how a learner sees this is a criminal charge on a record, not a ticket that goes away when it is paid. New Hampshire Driver's Manual, p.9: “shall be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor”
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
- One payment, once — not a subscription. Nothing renews and there is nothing to cancel, for an exam you sit one time.
- Free to start: a 10-question test and the first section of cards. No sign-up and no account.
- Paying opens the rest of the cards, unlimited full-length practice tests, and retests built from exactly the questions you got wrong.
- Every level up to Prepared — 3 tests passed in a row.
- Do the work, fail the real exam, and we refund you.
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)