Sorting out car accidents in New Hampshire: injury timeline consistency, decision sequencing, and what deserves review first

New Hampshire car accident law begins with a rule found in no other state: New Hampshire is the ONLY state in the United States that does not require every driver to carry automobile liability insurance. Under New Hampshire's financial responsibility law (RSA 264:1 et seq.), drivers are permitted to operate a vehicle without purchasing insurance if they can demonstrate sufficient financial resources to cover liability for accident damages (the "financial responsibility" alternative). Drivers who do carry insurance must meet minimum liability coverage: $25,000 per person/$50,000 per accident bodily injury/$25,000 property damage. But because New Hampshire does not mandate insurance, the uninsured motorist problem in the Granite State is distinctive — when an NH resident is hit by an uninsured driver, recovering damages depends entirely on whether the at-fault driver has the personal financial resources to pay. This makes UM/UIM (uninsured/underinsured motorist) coverage especially important in New Hampshire, even though it too is voluntary.

New Hampshire uses a modified comparative fault system with a 50% bar (RSA 507:7-d): a plaintiff who is 50% or more at fault for the accident cannot recover anything from the other party. A plaintiff who is 49% or less at fault recovers proportionally reduced damages. The statute of limitations for personal injury claims in New Hampshire — including car accidents — is 3 years (RSA 508:4), which is one year longer than the 2-year SOL used in the majority of US states. This extended period gives New Hampshire accident victims more time to assess the full scope of their injuries and pursue claims. New Hampshire's road geography — I-93 (the backbone north-south route from Massachusetts through Manchester, Concord, and the White Mountains), I-89 (Concord to Lebanon/Dartmouth area and Vermont), Route 101 (east-west from Manchester to Hampton Beach), and the winding rural roads of the Lakes Region (Lake Winnipesaukee; Ossipee Lake; Lake Sunapee) and the White Mountains — generates a mix of highway accidents and rural road crashes with distinctive seasonal patterns: Black Ice season (November-March); moose collision season (peak May-June and October-November); and summer tourist traffic surges to the Lakes Region, the White Mountains, and the Hampton Beach oceanfront.