Passing — New Hampshire Permit Test
Passing 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 driver should only pass when it is permitted by signage or road markings and when road conditions are favorable.
Two things have to be true: the law allows it here, and the road is good enough to do it on.
Only pass when it is permitted to do so by signage or road markings and only when road conditions are favorable.
A driver should not attempt to pass when the view is blocked by a curve or a hill, at intersections, or before a highway-railroad crossing or bridge.
Each of these hides something that could be coming the other way, and a pass needs the road you cannot see.
Do not attempt to pass when an oncoming vehicle is approaching, when the view is blocked by a curve or a hill, at intersections, or before a highway-railroad crossing or bridge.
On multi-lane roads the left-most lane is intended to be used for passing slower vehicles.
Keeping the left lane for passing is what stops traffic weaving through several lanes to get by.
On multi-lane roads, the left-most lane is intended to be used for passing slower vehicles.
A driver should never pass on the shoulder, whether it is paved or not.
The shoulder is where broken-down cars and walkers are, and it is not built to be driven on at speed.
Never pass on the shoulder, whether it is paved or not.
A driver should continue to pass until the complete front of the passed vehicle is visible in the rearview mirror before returning to the lane.
Seeing the whole front of their car in your mirror is the only reliable sign that you are clear of it.
Continue to pass until the complete front of the passed vehicle is visible in the rearview mirror.
On the test
When may a driver pass another vehicle?
When signs or markings permit it and conditions are favorable. Two things have to be true: the law allows it here, and the road is good enough to do it on. New Hampshire Driver's Manual, p.17: “Only pass when it is permitted to do so by signage or road markings and only when road conditions are favorable.”
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)