New Hampshire Traffic Tickets and the Traffic School Question

Before you plead: there is no dismissal class

Neither the courts nor the DMV in New Hampshire swap a class for a dropped ticket. Plead guilty or nolo and pay the DMV, and the case ends with a conviction and demerit points. When a ticket ends that way, nothing is kept on file at the court.

The approved driver improvement course comes later in the story. It reduces your point total when the DMV weighs a suspension, but insurers and anyone else who pulls your record still see the conviction.

In the first 30 days

Your answer is due 30 days after the issue date, unless the ticket sends you to court. Online, all three pleas are available. The phone lines, 603-227-4070 and 800-272-0036, take guilty or nolo pleas paid by credit card. By mail, use Bureau of Financial Responsibility, NH DMV, PO Box 3838, Concord NH 03301, and make checks out to State of NH - DMV.

Let the deadline pass and a $50 administrative fee is added; your license is suspended 30 days later without another notice, and a bench warrant is possible. Getting the license back costs $100 more.

If you plead not guilty

You send the not guilty plea to the DMV, and it goes on from there to the District Division of the Circuit Court. A court date can be months away, so tell the court in writing if you move. First comes a pre-trial conference. The prosecutor there can change the ticket, suggest a plea, or let it go.

If nothing is settled, a judge hears the case on a later date. A guilty verdict or a changed plea means paying that same day; tell the prosecutor or judge beforehand if you cannot pay in full, as you may need a financial affidavit. Skipping either hearing results in an administrative guilty finding.

When points start adding up: the approved course

Only schools on the DMV list count. Under Saf-C 212.07, a program lasts 6 hours or more, holds onto records for 5 years, keeps an office in New Hampshire and charges $50 or less. At the last check, the list named several local schools along with AARP Driver Safety, AAA Northern New England and the Northern New England chapter of the National Safety Council.

If you have at least 3 points, finishing the course removes 3 from your most recent total for suspension purposes, once in any 3 complete calendar years. Your record shows the completion date only after the DMV receives the certificate.

An example: you have 3 points from one stop sign ticket and want a cushion. You can take the course now. But a course taken now cannot be saved up for a ticket you have not received yet.

If a court or the state requires a program

A justice of a superior, district, county or circuit court can order the driver improvement course, and so can the Bureau of Hearings after a hearing on your record. A different course, the 6 to 8 hour driver attitude program, stands between you and restoration when a district court or the Bureau has ordered it, or when you have been certified a habitual offender.

A youth operator with a conviction for DWI, for reckless driving, or for exceeding the limit by over 30 mph has to finish an in-person driver attitude program before getting the license reissued. After a DWI, alcohol programs are handled by the court together with the Bureau of Hearings, so ask the court which one applies.

If you drive commercially

Under 49 CFR 383.31, a CDL holder has 30 days to give their employer written notice of any non-parking traffic conviction, in any vehicle. The 3 point credit only changes New Hampshire's suspension count; it hides nothing from a commercial record or an employer's check.