Terms Used In New Hampshire Revised Statutes > Chapter 261 - Certificates of Title and Registration of Vehicles

• 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
• Active duty: means full-time duty as an enlisted member, or as a commissioned or warrant officer, in any branch of the armed forces. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:50
• 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.
• 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.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Auto wholesale dealer: shall mean any person with an established place of business, who is exclusively engaged in the business of purchasing vehicles requiring registration for use upon a way, for resale to a retail or wholesale dealer. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:5-a
• Autocycle: means a 3-wheeled motor vehicle that has a steering wheel and seating that does not require the operator to straddle or sit astride, is equipped with safety belts for all occupants and is manufactured to comply with federal safety requirements for motorcycles. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:4-d
• 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.
• Bicycle: shall mean every pedalled vehicle propelled by human power upon which any person may ride, except child's tricycles and similar devices. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:6
• biennially: when applied to meetings and elections in towns, shall mean the biennial meetings and elections required by law to be holden in the month of November biennially, dating from the commencement of biennial elections in 1878; and the word "annual" when applied to meetings and elections in towns, shall mean the annual meetings and elections required by law to be holden in the month of March. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:7
• 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
• Citation: shall mean any citation, summons, ticket or other document issued by an arresting officer for violation of a law, ordinance or rule, pertaining to motor vehicle traffic, ordering the arrested motorist to appear. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:10
• Commerce: shall mean :
  I. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:12-a
• 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
• Compact utility tractor: shall mean any self-propelled 4-wheel vehicle utilizing diesel fuel, with a rated horsepower not to exceed 28 horsepower, that is capable of carrying not more than one occupant, is equipped by the manufacturer with at least one PTO (power take-off) in addition to any PTO installed for the purpose of an under-tractor mower deck, and has no provision for carrying a load other than attached implements such as snowplows, tool boxes, or bucket loaders. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:13-a
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Construction equipment: shall mean all bulldozers, rollers, scrapers, graders, spreaders, pavers, bituminous mixers, retreading machines, compressors, power shovels, excavators, backhoes, wagons, concrete mixers, generators, message boards, wood chippers, bucket loaders, snow loaders, rooters, scarifiers and construction tractors, and such other items of equipment which in the opinion of the director should be classified as construction equipment. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:42
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• 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.
• Courtesy delivery: shall mean a delivery made by a dealer registered under the provisions of N. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:15
• Custom vehicle: shall mean any motor vehicle that is at least 30 model years old and has been altered from the manufacturer's original design or has a body constructed from non-original materials, but which is not a street rod and does not weigh more than 6,000 pounds. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:17-a
• 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
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Department: shall mean the department of safety of the state of New Hampshire. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:19
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Director: shall mean the director of the division of motor vehicles of the department of safety. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:20
• Disqualification: shall mean a prohibition against driving a commercial motor vehicle. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:20-a
• Division: shall mean the division of motor vehicles in the department of safety. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:22
• Domicile: shall mean a natural person taking up residence in a town or city within the state and includes but is not limited to occupying a primary place of habitation, placing children in a public school within the state, accepting gainful employment, or being a registered voter liable for a resident tax, provided, however, that no person shall be considered to be domiciled in this state who simultaneously claims residence in any other state for any of the purposes indicated above. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:23
• 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
• Established place of business: shall mean :
  I. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:29-a
• 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.
• EVR integrator: shall mean an electronic vehicle registration integrator who provides necessary hardware, software, software updates, or network connections between dealer agents, the department, and towns for the electronic transmittal and receipt of registration and title data and money. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:29-b
• EVR program: means the electronic vehicle registration program that allows dealer agents to process motor vehicle registrations, permits for registration, or registration transfers and title applications in conjunction with the sale of a new or used vehicle by said dealer pursuant to N. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:29-c
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• farm: means any land, buildings, or structures on or in which agriculture and farming activities are carried out or conducted and shall include the residence or residences of owners, occupants, or employees located on such land. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:32
• 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.
• Fiscal year: shall mean the year beginning July 1 and ending June 30. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:33
• 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
• Garage: shall mean every place where 5 or more motor vehicles are stored or housed at any one time, except such places in which motor vehicles are kept by the owners thereof without payment for storage. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:38
• Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
• governing body: shall mean the board of selectmen in a town, the board of aldermen or council in a city or town with a town council, the school board in a school district or the village district commissioners in a village district, or when used to refer to unincorporated towns or unorganized places, or both, the county commissioners. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:48
• 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.
• Habitual offender: means any resident or nonresident person whose record, as maintained in the office of the division, shows that such person has accumulated convictions in the number provided in paragraph I, II or III of this section for those offenses listed therein and committed within a 5-year period, based on the date of the offense. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:39
• Heavy truck: shall mean any motor truck having more than 2 axles. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:41
• Implement of husbandry: shall mean equipment designed or adapted and used exclusively for agricultural, horticultural, forestry, or livestock operations, for which use on a public way is incidental to its intended function. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:44
• Indemnification: In general, a collateral contract or assurance under which one person agrees to secure another person against either anticipated financial losses or potential adverse legal consequences. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• IRP: shall mean the multi-jurisdictional commercial vehicle registration proration plan known as the international registration plan. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:45-a
• 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}
• legislative body: shall mean a town meeting, school district meeting, village district meeting, city or town council, mayor and council, mayor and board of aldermen, or, when used to refer to unincorporated towns or unorganized places, or both, the county convention. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:47
• 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.
• Lienholder: shall mean a person holding a security interest in a vehicle. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:49
• LPR: means a license plate reading device that is mounted to a vehicle, that is attended to and operated by a law enforcement officer, and that uses automated high speed camera and optical character recognition technology to passively read, instantaneously identify against a list or lists, check, send an audible or visual alarm to the operator, and store for a prescribed period of time, a record of each number plate read. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:68-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
• Moped: shall mean a motor-driven cycle whose speed attainable in one mile is 30 miles per hour or less; if an internal combustion engine is used, the piston displacement shall not exceed 50 cubic centimeters and the power-drive system shall not require the operator to shift gears. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:57
• Motor vehicle: shall mean :
  I. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:60
• Motor vehicle business: shall mean a business which is principally engaged in one or more of the following activities: buying, selling, or exchanging motor vehicles requiring registration for use upon a way, motor vehicle mechanical service, motor vehicle collision repair service, the reconditioning and restoration of motor vehicles, and the sale of motor vehicle parts. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:60-a
• Motor-driven cycle: shall mean any motorcycle or motor scooter with a motor which produces not to exceed 5 horse-power, and any bicycle with motor attached except any electric bicycle. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:65
• Motorcycle: shall mean every motor vehicle having a seat or saddle for the use of the rider and designed to travel on not more than 3 wheels in contact with the ground, but excluding electric bicycles, tractors, and mopeds. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:63
• Nonresident: shall mean :
  I. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:67
• Number plate: shall mean the sign or marker furnished by the director, on which is displayed the registration number or mark of a vehicle assigned thereto by the director, which shall bear on the face thereof a permanent or changeable designation of the effective period. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:68
• Off highway recreational vehicle: shall mean any mechanically propelled vehicle used for pleasure or recreational purposes running on rubber tires, tracks, or cushion of air and dependent on the ground or surface for travel, or other unimproved terrain whether covered by ice or snow or not, where the driver sits in or on the vehicle. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:69
• OHRV: shall mean an off highway recreational vehicle. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:70
• Original bill: A bill which is drafted by a committee. It is introduced by the committee or subcommittee chairman after the committee votes to report it.
• Out-of-service order: shall mean a declaration by the Federal Highway Administration or an authorized local, state or federal enforcement officer, or an enforcement officer from the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Canada, or Mexico, that a driver, or a commercial motor vehicle, or a motor carrier operation, is out of service. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:71-a
• 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.
• Perfected: when used in reference to a security interest, shall mean that it is valid against third parties generally, subject only to specific statutory exceptions. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:73
• 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
• Police officer: shall mean any constable, peace officer, or other officer authorized to make arrests or serve process. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:78
• Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
• Previously registered vehicle: shall mean :
  I. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:79
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Public way: shall mean :
  I. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:83
• Registration number: shall mean the number or mark assigned by the director to a vehicle. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:85
• 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.
• Repairer: shall mean any person who is principally engaged in the motor vehicle business, but who is not a dealer and who has an established place of business. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:87
• replica: means a body or frame manufactured after the year 1949 and which resembles that of the original vehicle and which retains the basic style and dimensions as originally manufactured and whose major components such as grill shell, hood, or doors are readily interchangeable with the original pre-1949 component. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:106-a
• Resident: shall mean a resident of the state as defined in N. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:88
• Retail vehicle dealer: shall mean a person engaged in the motor vehicle business who sells motor vehicles to the general public, or demonstrates for sale vehicles on consignment to the general public. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:89-a
• 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
• Right of survivorship: The ownership rights that result in the acquisition of title to property by reason of having survived other co-owners.
• Right-of-way: shall mean the right of one vehicle or pedestrian to proceed in a lawful manner in preference to another vehicle or pedestrian approaching under such circumstances of direction, speed or proximity as to give rise to the danger of collision unless one grants precedence to the other. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:91
• road: shall include all bridges thereon. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:26
• Roadable aircraft: shall mean any aircraft capable of taking off and landing from a suitable airfield which is also designed to be driven on public roadways as a conveyance. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:91-a
• Safety glass: shall mean glass so treated or combined with other materials as to reduce, in comparison with ordinary sheet glass or plate glass, the likelihood of injury to persons by objects from external sources or by glass when the glass is cracked or broken. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:94
• 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
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• 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 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.
• Street rod: shall mean a vehicle, the body and frame of which were manufactured prior to the year 1949 and which has been modified for safe road use, or a replica thereof which has also been modified for safe road use. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:106-a
• 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
• 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
• Trailer: shall mean any vehicle without motive power designed for carrying property or passengers wholly on its own structure and for being drawn by a self-propelled vehicle, except those running exclusively on snow or on stationary tracks and vehicles used exclusively for agricultural purposes. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:113
• Transporter: shall mean :
  I. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:114
• Truck: shall mean every motor vehicle designed, used or maintained primarily for the transportation of property. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:115-b
• Truck-tractor: shall mean any vehicle designed and intended primarily for drawing other vehicles and not so constructed as to carry a load other than a part of the vehicle and load so drawn, except that a truck-tractor engaged in the transportation of automobiles may transport motor vehicles on a part of the power unit. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:116
• 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
• Utility dealer: shall mean :
  I. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 259:121
• 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