New Hampshire Judges a Dash Cam by Whether It Blocks the View

The obstruction rule is written as an effect, not as a permitted zone. Unlike states that measure a square of windshield in the corner or key the rule to the AS-1 line, RSA 265:95 asks only whether the object obstructs the driver's clear view of the way or any intersecting way. The single express permission in the section runs the other way and concerns the rear glass: subparagraph (b) allows stickers or other nontransparent material on a rear window if the vehicle has exterior rearview mirrors on the right and left that give a clear and unobstructed view to the rear, and the material is attached along the perimeter so the inside rearview mirror still sees through the centre portion. Nothing comparable is granted for the windshield, and the same subparagraph (a) also repeats the ban on driving with after market windshield tint under RSA 266:58-a. There is a route to permission: the phrase "unless authorized by the director so to do" lets the Director of Motor Vehicles approve an item that would otherwise obstruct.

One quirk of the official text is worth naming, because it affects how the section is cited. The published section runs I, II, then unlabelled subparagraphs (a) and (b), then IV, which imposes the fine on "the provisions of paragraph I, II, or III." The lettered subparagraphs are paragraph III, and are cited as RSA 265:95, III(a) and III(b), even though the paragraph designation itself is missing from the printed text. The section was last amended by 2021, 185:1, effective October 9, 2021.

The camera as a device is handled by RSA 266:75, added in this form by 2011, 136:1, effective June 7, 2011. Its paragraph I limits the defined term to equipment capable of displaying rapidly changing images, being either a broadcast television image or similar entertainment content transmitted by other wireless means, or a dynamic visual image other than text from a digital video disc or other storage device. Paragraph II bars driving while viewing such an image when the vehicle is in motion, and paragraph III bars driving with an image display device intended to be visible to the driver in a normal driving position when the vehicle is in motion and the driver is restrained by the seat belts adjusted to the manufacturer's recommendation.

Paragraph IV then lists nine exemptions, and two of them decide the dash cam question. Subparagraph (f) exempts image display devices that do not display images to the driver while the vehicle is in motion, which covers a record-only camera whose screen is dark or which sleeps once recording begins. Subparagraph (d) exempts devices used to enhance or supplement the driver's view forward, behind, or to the sides of the motor vehicle, which covers a camera showing a live forward or rear view. The remaining exemptions map neatly onto the other screens a New Hampshire vehicle carries: (b) navigation and related traffic, road and weather information, (c) vehicle information and controls, (e) monitoring occupants seated rearward of the driver, (g) any use while the vehicle is parked, (h) information intended to enhance traffic awareness, and (i) monitoring horses or livestock in a vehicle or trailer intended to carry them.

A phone doing dash cam duty is treated as a phone. RSA 265:79-c, I(a) prohibits a driver from using any hand-held mobile electronic device capable of voice or data communication while the vehicle is moving or temporarily halted for a traffic control device, so the phone must be mounted and left alone rather than started, stopped or repositioned on the move. RSA 265:79-c, V is the only place in the Revised Statutes that expressly contemplates a screen fixed to the glass: it preserves a driver's ability to receive turn-by-turn routing information from the screen of a navigation device or service that is integrated into the vehicle or mounted on the dashboard, windshield, or visor. Under RSA 265:79-c, IV a driver under 18 may not use a mobile electronic device at all while driving, hands-free or not, except to report an emergency.

Recording sound is a separate question. RSA 570-A:2 makes intercepting an oral communication without the consent of all parties a class B felony, and RSA 570-A:1, II confines that term to speech uttered with a reasonable expectation that it is not subject to interception. A cabin-facing dash cam that records passengers therefore raises the wiretap chapter even where the mounting is perfectly lawful.

Driving with anything on or adjacent to the windshield, side wings, or side or rear windows that obstructs the driver's clear view of the way or an intersecting way breaches RSA 265:95, III(a) and carries a fine of $75 under paragraph IV of the same section. The director may authorize an otherwise obstructing item, and an item so authorized is outside the prohibition. Rear window material is lawful only on the terms in subparagraph (b), which requires exterior rearview mirrors on both sides and perimeter attachment leaving the centre visible through the inside mirror.

Using a screen that displays entertainment or other dynamic images to the driver while the vehicle is in motion breaches RSA 266:75, II or III, and attracts the Title XXI general penalty in RSA 262:41 of $50 plus penalty assessment for a first offence and $100 plus penalty assessment for a subsequent offence in the same calendar year. Handling a phone used as a camera while driving is a violation under RSA 265:79-c, III with fines of $100 plus penalty assessment for a first offence, $250 for a second and $500 for any subsequent offence within a 24-month period, and a driver under 18 also faces licence suspension or revocation under RSA 263:14, III.