RSA 265:37-a, Rules of the Road, Motorist Duties When Approaching Highway Emergencies is New Hampshire's "Move Over" law. New Hampshire has had a "move over" law since 2004, but many people are still unaware of it. RSA 265:8, Rules of the Road, Emergency Vehicles describes the rules of the road that an emergency vehicle driver may disregard when responding to an emergency situation while using the emergency lights and sirens.
The statute referenced in this guide is known by its popular name, the Move Over law. Although descriptive of the purpose of the statute and easily remembered, this phrase is not necessarily the best term to use if you were trying to locate this statute. The phrase “move over” is not in the language of the statute, making an online search for a statute with those words ineffective, but the phrase “wide berth” is in the language of the statute, so it would be a good online search phrase. The print index to the statutes does have a category for “Popular Name Laws” which references the names of many laws in NH which have popular names, and it does contain “Move Over” as an entry, so this is another way a researcher could identify the statute for this topic. Surprisingly, the print index to the statutes has a separate entry for “Move Over law”, which also references the correct statute. The print index to the statutes usually does not list the popular name of the statute in the index individually, but only gathered together under the heading “Popular Name Laws”.
To learn more about New Hampshire's Move Over law, review the legislative committees' documentation on the following bills.
Please remember that this guide is for information purposes only and is not comprehensive.
It is intended as a starting point for research, to illustrate the various sources of the law, and to provide guidance in their use.
NH Law About ... is not a substitute for the services of an attorney.
