Stopped for no reason at all?

Many readers may have been stopped after doing nothing wrong at all. This occurs in roadblocks, and also occurs when a police officer has nothing else to do and "runs" your plate number to see if your registration is expired or if your license has been suspended or revoked. This is a fishing trip that will sometimes land him a "fish", which is the driver with an impediment of some sort on his or her license. These clouds on a license can be as minor as an unpaid traffic ticket but can end up with the driver in handcuffs.

An important new law that every driver should know about is

New Hampshire Revised Statute Annotated RSA 236:130

This law is so important that I have included the full text of it below. A plain reading of this is that your plate number can't just be "run" if you are not doing anything illegal. Here is the statute itself:

236:130 Highway Surveillance Prohibited. I. In this subdivision, "surveillance" means the act of determining the ownership of a motor vehicle or the identity of a motor vehicle's occupants on the public ways of the state or its political subdivisions through the use of a camera or other imaging device or any other device, including but not limited to a transponder, cellular telephone, global positioning satellite, or radio frequency identification device, that by itself or in conjunction with other devices or information can be used to determine the ownership of a motor vehicle or the identity of a motor vehicle's occupants.II. Neither the state of New Hampshire nor its political subdivisions shall engage in surveillance on any public ways of the state or its political subdivisions.III. The prohibition set forth in paragraph II shall not apply where surveillance: (a) Is specifically authorized by statute; (b) Is undertaken on a case-by-case basis in the investigation of a particular violation, misdemeanor, or felony; (c) Is undertaken to produce images or data that: (1) Are viewed only at the transportation management center of the department of transportation in connection with a particular incident occurring on a public way; and (2) Are not recorded; (d) Is incidental to the monitoring of a building or other structure under the control of the state or a political subdivision of the state; or (e) Is undertaken for the security of the following bridges and approach structures: I-95 Piscataqua River Bridge, Sarah Mildred Long Bridge, and the Memorial Bridge, all in Portsmouth.IV. Nothing in this section shall prevent the creation, transmission, or recording of any images or data which cannot, by enhancement, manipulation, or otherwise, be used for surveillance.

V. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a violation if a natural person, or guilty of a misdemeanor if any other person.HISTORY: 2006, 107:1, eff. July 1, 2006.