Terms Used In New Hampshire Revised Statutes > Chapter 260 - Administration of Motor Vehicle Laws

• Accident: shall mean any event that results in injury or property damage attributable directly or indirectly to the motion of a motor vehicle or its load. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:1-a
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Alcohol: shall mean any substance containing any form of alcohol, including but not limited to, ethanol, methanol, propanol and isopropanol. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:3-a
• Alternative fuel: means any source of fuel, other than motor fuel and electricity, used to propel a motor vehicle over the ways of the state. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:3-d
• Alternative fuel dealer: means any person who sells, produces, or refines alternative fuel for use in a motor vehicle as defined in N. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:3-e
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Armed forces: means the United States Army, Army Reserve, Navy, Naval Reserve, Marine Corps, Marine Corps Reserve, Air Force, Air Force Reserve, Space Force, Coast Guard, Coast Guard Reserve, Army National Guard, and the Air National Guard. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:50
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
• Biodiesel: means a renewable special fuel that is composed of mono-alkyl esters of long chain fatty acids, is derived from vegetable oils or animal fats, and meets the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) specifications D6751. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:6-a
• Bus: shall mean every motor vehicle designed for carrying more than 10 passengers and used for transportation of persons; and every motor vehicle, other than a taxicab, designed and used for the transportation of persons for compensation. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:7
• Certificate: shall mean :
  I. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:9
• Commercial driver: shall mean a person who drives a commercial motor vehicle as defined in N. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:12
• Commercial motor vehicle: shall mean a motor vehicle or a combination of motor vehicles, used in commerce, to transport passengers or property if:
  (a) The vehicle has a gross vehicle weight rating of 26,001 pounds or more;
  (b) The vehicle has a gross combination weight rating or actual weight of 26,001 or more pounds, inclusive of any towed unit with gross vehicle weight rating or actual weight of more than 10,000 pounds;
  (c) The vehicle is designed or used to transport 16 or more passengers, including the driver; or
  (d) The vehicle is of any size and is used in the transportation of hazardous materials required to be placarded under 49 C. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:12-e
• Commissioner: shall mean the commissioner of safety. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:13
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: shall mean an adjudication of guilt which has not been annulled or vacated, a determination that a person has violated or failed to comply with the law in a court of original jurisdiction or an administrative proceeding, an unvacated forfeiture of bail or collateral deposited to secure the person's appearance in court, a plea of guilty or nolo contendere accepted by the court, the payment of a fine or court costs, or the violation of a condition of release without bail, regardless of whether the penalty is rebated, suspended or otherwise affected by probation. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:14
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Dealer: shall mean a retail vehicle dealer or an auto wholesale dealer. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:18
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: shall mean the department of safety of the state of New Hampshire. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:19
• Director: shall mean the director of the division of motor vehicles of the department of safety. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:20
• Division: shall mean the division of motor vehicles in the department of safety. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:22
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Driver: shall mean a person who drives or is in actual physical control of a motor vehicle as defined in N. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:25
• Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Fiscal year: shall mean the year beginning July 1 and ending June 30. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:33
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• following: when used by way of reference to any section of these laws, shall mean the section next preceding or following that in which such reference is made, unless some other is expressly designated. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:13
• Foreclosure: A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Gasoline: shall mean all products commonly or commercially known or sold as gasoline, including casinghead and absorption of natural gasoline, regardless of their classification or uses, and any liquid prepared, advertised, offered for sale, or sold for use as or commonly and commercially used as a fuel in internal combustion engines, which when subjected to distillation in accordance with the standard method of test for distillation of gasoline, naphtha, kerosene, and similar petroleum products (ASTM Designation D-86) show not less than 10 percent distilled (recovered) below 347 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Centigrade) and not less than 95 percent distilled (recovered) below 464 degrees Fahrenheit (240 degrees Centigrade); provided that the term gasoline shall not include commercial solvents or naphthas which distill by ASTM method D-86 not more than 9 percent at 176 degrees Fahrenheit and which have a distillation range of 150 degrees Fahrenheit or less, or liquified gases which would not exist as liquid at a temperature of 60 degrees Fahrenheit and a pressure of 14. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:37-b
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• governor and council: shall mean the governor with the advice and consent of the council. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:31-a
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Hazardous materials: shall mean hazardous materials as defined in N. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:40
• Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
• Judgment: shall mean any judgment which shall have become final, rendered by a court of competent jurisdiction of any state, or of the United States. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:46
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• justice: when applied to a magistrate, shall mean a justice of a municipal court, or a justice of the peace having jurisdiction over the subject-matter. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:12
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• License: shall mean any driver's license or any other license or permit to drive a vehicle issued under the laws of this state or a reciprocating state including:
  I. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:48
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Mixed use school bus: shall mean a station wagon, suburban, sport utility vehicle, passenger van, panel body vehicle, or vehicle converted to a school bus, owned or leased by a public school or private school and driven by a school employee, which bears a valid state inspection sticker and is employed principally in transporting schoolchildren to and from school activities. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:96-a
• month: shall mean a calendar month, and the word "year" a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed; and the word "year" shall be equivalent to the expression "year of our Lord. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:8
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• Mortgagor: The person who pledges property to a creditor as collateral for a loan and who receives the money.
• Motor fuel: shall mean all products used in an internal combustion engine for the generation of power to propel motor vehicles or mechanical contrivances on or over the ways of this state. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:58
• Motor vehicle: shall mean :
  I. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:60
• Next of kin: shall mean the spouse, child, parent, stepparent, sibling, or legal guardian of the individual in question. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:66-a
• OHRV: shall mean an off highway recreational vehicle. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:70
• Owner: shall mean :
  I. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:72
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Person: shall mean the same as provided in N. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:74
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• petition: when used in connection with the equity jurisdiction of the superior court, and referring to a document filed with the court, shall mean complaint, and "petitioner" shall mean plaintiff. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:51
• Place of business: shall mean the site, location or building within this state at which a person conducts the business in which he is engaged. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:76
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• real estate: shall include lands, tenements, and hereditaments, and all rights thereto and interests therein. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:21
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• registered mail: when used in connection with the requirement for notice by mail shall mean either registered mail or certified mail. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:32-a
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Resident: shall mean a resident of the state as defined in N. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:88
• Revocation: shall mean the termination by formal action of the department or of a court of competent jurisdiction of a person's driver's license or privilege to drive on the ways of this state, or of any other license, registration or permit issued by the department. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:90
• road: shall include all bridges thereon. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:26
• School bus: shall mean a vehicle owned by a public or governmental agency, or a privately owned vehicle, including a station wagon, suburban, panel body vehicle and vehicles converted to a school bus, but excluding a passenger vehicle, employed solely in transporting school children to and from school or school activities by virtue of a contract with a municipality, municipal board or school board authorities. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:96
• seal: shall include an impression of the official seal made upon the paper alone, as well as an impression thereof made by means of wax, or a wafer, affixed thereto. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:11
• Security agreement: shall mean an interest in a vehicle reserved or created by agreement and which secures payment or performance of an obligation. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:97
• Semi-trailer: shall mean a vehicle of the trailer type so designed and used in conjunction with a self-propelled vehicle that a considerable part of its own weight or that of its load rests upon and is carried by the towing vehicle, and not including a pair or set of wheels commonly used as an implement for other purposes than transportation, provided, however, that the word "semi-trailer" shall not include any vehicle as described in this section if used exclusively for agricultural purposes unless said vehicle be of the type constructed specifically to be towed by a tractor-type truck. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:98
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Snowmobile: shall mean any vehicle propelled by mechanical power that is designed to travel over ice or snow supported in part by skis, tracks, or cleats. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:102
• Special fuel: shall mean all products, except gasoline, propane, natural gas, or liquified natural gas, used in an internal combustion engine for the generation of power to propel motor vehicles or mechanical contrivances on or over the ways. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:103-a
• Special mobile equipment: shall mean a vehicle not designed for the transportation of persons or property upon a highway and only incidentally driven or moved over a way, including but not limited to ditch-digging apparatus, well-boring apparatus and road construction and maintenance machinery such as asphalt spreaders, bituminous mixers, bucket loaders, tractors other than truck tractors, ditchers, leveling graders, finishing machines, motor graders, road rollers, scarifiers, earth moving carryalls and scrapers, power shovels and drag lines, and self-propelled cranes and earth moving equipment. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:105
• State: shall mean :
  I. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:106
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Subpoena duces tecum: A command to a witness to produce documents.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Suspension: shall mean the temporary withdrawal by formal action of the department or of a court of competent jurisdiction of a person's driver's license or privilege to drive a vehicle on the ways of this state, or any other license, registration or permit issued by the department, which temporary withdrawal shall be for a period specifically designated by the department or court and until the reissuance of the license, registration, permit or privilege. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:107
• sworn: when applied to public officers required by the constitution to take oaths therein prescribed, shall refer to those oaths; when applied to other officers it shall mean sworn to the faithful discharge of the duties of their offices before a justice of the peace, or other person authorized to administer official oaths in such cases. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:25
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Tractor: shall mean : any self-propelled vehicle designed or used for agricultural purposes or as a traveling power plant or for drawing other vehicles, but having no provision for carrying a load other than attached implements such as snowplows, tool boxes, or bucket loaders, but shall not include vehicles used for recreational purposes or agricultural/industrial utility vehicles as defined in N. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:108
• Traffic: shall mean pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars, and other conveyances either singly or together while using any way for purposes of travel. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:110
• Transporter: shall mean :
  I. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:114
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Truck: shall mean every motor vehicle designed, used or maintained primarily for the transportation of property. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:115-b
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• United States: shall include said district and territories. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:4
• Vehicle: shall mean :
  I. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:122
• Vehicle identification number: shall mean a unique distinguishing number issued by a vehicle manufacturer to a particular vehicle and stamped or embossed on a permanent part of the vehicle or on a plate provided by the manufacturer for that purpose, or such unique distinguishing number issued by the motor vehicle titling authority of this or any other state in lieu of a manufacturer's number. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:123
• Veteran: means any person who:
  (1) Served in the United States armed forces for more than 4 years and continues to serve; or
  (2) Has been discharged or released from duty in the United States armed forces with:
  (A) An honorable discharge; or
  (B) An uncharacterized discharge based on a service-connected injury, illness, or disability. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:50
• Way: shall mean :
  I. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:125
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.