The penalty for refusing to take a breathalyzer test when pulled over on suspicion of driving while intoxicated in New Hampshire will increase from a six-month license suspension to nine months.
As she signed the bill into law Monday, Gov. Kelly Ayotte said the change closes what she’s called the “DUI refusal loophole.”
The change will take effect on Jan. 1, 2027.
“The law is an important advancement, but the message out to the public is, ‘Please do not drive intoxicated, because you will kill someone,’” Ayotte said, flanked by state and local police and by relatives of people killed in car accidents involving drunk drivers.
The bipartisan bill breezed through the Legislature this year. The state Senate passed it on a voice vote, two weeks after a public hearing on the bill. The House voted 259-94 in favor of it last week.
The increased penalty for drivers who refuse to take a breath test was a recommendation from the Governor’s Special Task Force on Highway Safety. Ayotte initially backed a year-long license suspension for drivers who decline breath tests, which was also in the original legislative proposal.
That bill’s lead sponsor, Sen Bill Gannon of Sandown, said the nine-month suspension is a good outcome for what he called “the whole team,” including lawmakers from both parties, and Ayotte.
“It made all the difference in the world,” Gannon said.
Driving while intoxicated is, at minimum, a class B misdemeanor in New Hampshire, punishable by a $500 fine and minimum nine-month suspension for first-time offenses. Repeat offenders and aggravated DWI convictions carry greater penalties, including jail time.
The House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, which unanimously endorsed the bill, called the nine-month suspension an “incremental improvement” because the 180-day refusal penalty in current law contributed to what it said was “a 75% test refusal rate in 2026.”
Ayotte said she expects breath test refusals to drop under the new law: “We’ll be keeping an eye on it,” she said, adding that there is plenty of room for improvement.
“We don’t want to be among the highest in the nation,” Ayotte said.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, New Hampshire is second only to Florida for the highest rate of refusal, based on 2011 data on breath test refusal rates, which includes nine months of New Hampshire data.
Ayotte said her administration will continue to focus on road safety, including impaired driving in all forms, and distracted driving.
“We will continue to look at other areas; it’s why I have a highway safety task force,” Ayotte said.
That same highway safety task force has also called for heightened enforcement of DWI laws, including coordinated patrols between state, county and local law enforcement, and reports to the Attorney General’s office for cases involving administrative license suspensions that are withdrawn or result in negotiated agreements.
