The DWI Stop
RSA 265-A:2 — 0.08, or 0.02 under 21, and a 180 day suspension for refusing a test
No person may drive or attempt to drive a vehicle on a way while under the influence of liquor or of any drug or other substance that impairs the ability to drive, or with an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more, or, under the age of 21, 0.02 or more.
Who handles this in New Hampshire: New Hampshire Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service; and legal aid programs and the state offices, listed in the New Hampshire directory.
Anyone who drives or attempts to drive on the ways of the state is deemed to have given consent to physical tests and examinations to determine whether they are under the influence.
Refusing a test. When a person under arrest refuses a test the officer designates, none is given, but the license is suspended for 180 days on a first refusal with no prior conviction, or for 2 years where there is a prior conviction or refusal. The suspension runs on top of any other penalty, not alongside it.
Refusing both the physical tests and the blood, urine or breath test after one arrest counts as one refusal.
Testing is also limited by the Fourth Amendment. The Supreme Court of the United States has held that a breath test may be taken without a warrant as part of a lawful arrest for drunk driving and a blood test may not; that a driver may not be criminally punished for refusing a blood test where no warrant was obtained; and that the natural fall of alcohol in the blood does not by itself create an emergency excusing a warrant in every case, which is decided case by case on all the circumstances. Those holdings are a floor: a state's own constitution and statutes can give more protection than they do, never less.
Sources for this section (5)
- RSA 265-A:2 — Driving or Operating Under Influence of Drugs or Liquor; Driving or Operating With Excess Alcohol Concentration
- RSA 265-A:4 — Implied Consent of Driver or Operator to Submit to Testing to Determine Alcohol Concentration
- RSA 265-A:14 — Refusal of Consent
- Birchfield v. North Dakota, 579 U.S. 438 (2016) — A breath test may be taken incident to arrest, a blood draw needs a warrant
- Missouri v. McNeely, 569 U.S. 141 (2013) — The natural fall of blood alcohol is not by itself an emergency justifying a warrantless draw
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed New Hampshire attorney.