New Hampshire Car / Permit practice
New Hampshire Car / Permit: Traffic Laws practice test
Speed limits, turning and signaling rules, headlight and seat-belt requirements, and the everyday laws every driver must follow.
Content reviewed against official driver handbooks · August 12, 2026
16 questions · pass with 13 correct. You get instant feedback and an explanation after every answer.
Study questions with answers
12 sample Traffic Laws questions with the correct answer, a short explanation, and the official handbook reference. Read through them, then take the quiz above.
Show all 12 questions with answers
1. When does New Hampshire law require a vehicle to show at least two lighted lamps on the front?
Correct answer: From a half hour after sunset until a half hour before sunrise
Lights are required from a half hour after sunset until a half hour before sunrise, and also whenever rain, snow or fog hides people and vehicles beyond a thousand feet.
Source: New Hampshire Driver's Manual — Section 5, Communicating and Signaling
2. You have stopped for a school bus that is loading children. When may you drive on?
Correct answer: Once the bus begins moving again or its red lamps stop flashing
Drivers must hold their stop until the bus starts moving again or its flashing red lamps go dark, and then move ahead slowly while watching for children.
Source: New Hampshire Driver's Manual — Section 7, Rules for School Buses
3. A police officer is directing traffic at an intersection and waves cars through a red light. What should a driver do?
Correct answer: Follow the officer's directions, because they take precedence over the signal
Among the basic rules the manual lists, an officer directing traffic takes precedence over any signal or sign and the officer's directions must be followed.
Source: New Hampshire Driver's Manual — Section 6, New Hampshire Rules of the Road
4. According to the manual, when is a load on a vehicle considered properly secured?
Correct answer: When nothing can shift, slide, fall, sift out or become airborne
A load counts as secure only when no part of it can slide, shift, drop, sift out onto the pavement, or blow into the air while the vehicle moves.
Source: New Hampshire Driver's Manual — Section 4, Securing a Load
5. How does New Hampshire treat a driver who follows another vehicle far too closely?
Correct answer: It breaks the law and can bring a fine
The manual states plainly that trailing another vehicle at a distance no careful driver would accept breaks the law and can be punished with a fine.
Source: New Hampshire Driver's Manual — Section 5, Stopping Distance
6. A school bus ahead stops with its red lamps flashing and its stop arm swung out. How far back must a New Hampshire driver stop?
Correct answer: At least twenty-five feet away
State law calls for a stop no closer than twenty-five feet from the bus, in either direction of travel, unless a physical barrier separates the roadways.
Source: New Hampshire Driver's Manual — Section 7, Rules for School Buses
7. Snow has piled on the roof of your car overnight. What does New Hampshire law require before you drive?
Correct answer: Snow and ice must be removed from the vehicle before it is driven
Since 2002 drivers have been obliged to clear snow and ice from the vehicle, because a frozen sheet can blind the driver or fly off and strike someone behind.
Source: New Hampshire Driver's Manual — Section 4, Snow and Ice Removal
8. Which child must ride in a child passenger restraint that meets federal safety standards in New Hampshire?
Correct answer: A child under seven years old who is also under fifty-seven inches tall
The requirement covers a child who is both younger than seven years old and shorter than fifty-seven inches, and the seat must meet U.S. Department of Transportation standards.
Source: New Hampshire Driver's Manual — Section 4, Child Passenger Safety Laws
9. What does New Hampshire law require of a driver who leaves a vehicle unattended?
Correct answer: Shut off the engine and remove the key
The manual notes that the law obliges a driver to shut off the engine and take the key when stepping away, and it also advises locking the vehicle.
Source: New Hampshire Driver's Manual — Section 7, Parking
10. Which passengers must be restrained under New Hampshire's safety belt law?
Correct answer: Anyone under eighteen years of age
The statute reaches everyone below the age of eighteen, though the manual urges occupants of every age to buckle up whether or not the law names them.
Source: New Hampshire Driver's Manual — Section 4, Using Safety Belts
11. Which vehicles does the law require to stop before every railroad crossing, even with no train in sight?
Correct answer: Passenger buses and trucks hauling flammable or hazardous cargo
Buses carrying passengers and trucks hauling flammable or hazardous cargo must stop at each crossing, so drivers behind them should be ready to stop as well.
Source: New Hampshire Driver's Manual — Section 6, Railroad Crossing Warning Signs
12. A New Hampshire driver is stopped at a steady red light and wants to turn right. What does the law allow?
Correct answer: The turn may be made after stopping, unless a sign forbids turning right on red
The manual permits a right turn on red as an exception to the stop requirement, provided no posted sign forbids that movement at the intersection.
Source: New Hampshire Driver's Manual — Section 6, Traffic Signals
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Every New Hampshire question is written from the official New Hampshire driver handbook and checked against its current edition. DMV Test Free is a free, independent study resource — not affiliated with any DMV or government agency. About DMV Test Free