4 ms·

They're optional for adults in cars here in New Hampshire where the official state motto is "Live free or die".

AlexandrB 3y ago
NH doesn't get enough credit for how weird it is. Between the state motto, the lack of sales or income tax, and stuff like this seatbelt rule it's like we're talking about a totally different country.
- ztetranz 3y ago
  The other thing about cars in NH is that insurance is optional. I'm not sure what happens if someone legally driving in NH without liability insurance drives over the border into a neighboring state. I asked a lawyer friend once and he mumbled something about interstate commerce making it legal. I'm not how that debate would go when stopped by a cop in MA and asked to show proof of insurance.
  - bloomingeek 3y ago
    In my state, the arm pit of America, OKLA, auto insurance is mandatory. However, a certain amount of my fellow citizens treat it as optional.
  - rsynnott 3y ago
    > I'm not sure what happens if someone legally driving in NH without liability insurance ... Wait, you don't need _liability insurance_?!
    - tyingq 3y ago
      "New Hampshire motor vehicle laws do not require you to carry auto insurance, but you must be able to demonstrate that you are able to provide sufficient funds to meet New Hampshire motor vehicle financial responsibility requirements in the event of an at-fault accident." https://www.nh.gov/insurance/consumers/documents/nh_auto_guide.pdf https://www.nh.gov/insurance/consumers/documents/nh_auto_gui...
- notpeter 3y ago
  I also like their Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) record retention period (3 minutes): > Records of number plates read by each LPR shall not be recorded or transmitted anywhere and shall be purged from the system within 3 minutes of their capture in such a manner that they are destroyed and are not recoverable, unless an alarm resulted in an arrest, a citation, or protective custody, or identified a vehicle that was the subject of a missing person or wanted broadcast [...] https://law.justia.com/codes/new-hampshire/2022/title-xxi/title-261/section-261-75-b/ https://law.justia.com/codes/new-hampshire/2022/title-xxi/ti...
  - pc86 3y ago
    This seems absolutely reasonable. Keep the data about people who have committed or you can reasonably suspect might be committing a crime, get rid of the identifiable information for law-abiding citizens and maybe keep the aggregated metadata. This should be the standard IMO.
- tyingq 3y ago
  It's also often incorrectly thought of as heavily democrat or liberal, perhaps due to association with neighbors like Massachusetts and Vermont. It's somewhat true, but the balance is much closer to 50/50 than those neighbors. And the largest newspaper is very Republican centric.
  - ztetranz 3y ago
    If it wasn't for our former governor John Sununu, (father of the current one), the US response to climate change might have been quite different.
stpe 3y ago
Should it not be ”Live free and die” then?
rsynnott 3y ago
Or, y'know, both, in this case. (Huh; I had no idea there was anywhere left in the developed world where they weren't mandatory.)

NH doesn't get enough credit for how weird it is. Between the state motto, the lack of sales or income tax, and stuff like this seatbelt rule it's like we're talking about a totally different country.

ztetranz 3y ago
The other thing about cars in NH is that insurance is optional. I'm not sure what happens if someone legally driving in NH without liability insurance drives over the border into a neighboring state. I asked a lawyer friend once and he mumbled something about interstate commerce making it legal. I'm not how that debate would go when stopped by a cop in MA and asked to show proof of insurance.
- bloomingeek 3y ago
  In my state, the arm pit of America, OKLA, auto insurance is mandatory. However, a certain amount of my fellow citizens treat it as optional.
- rsynnott 3y ago
  > I'm not sure what happens if someone legally driving in NH without liability insurance ... Wait, you don't need _liability insurance_?!
  - tyingq 3y ago
    "New Hampshire motor vehicle laws do not require you to carry auto insurance, but you must be able to demonstrate that you are able to provide sufficient funds to meet New Hampshire motor vehicle financial responsibility requirements in the event of an at-fault accident." https://www.nh.gov/insurance/consumers/documents/nh_auto_guide.pdf https://www.nh.gov/insurance/consumers/documents/nh_auto_gui...
notpeter 3y ago
I also like their Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) record retention period (3 minutes): > Records of number plates read by each LPR shall not be recorded or transmitted anywhere and shall be purged from the system within 3 minutes of their capture in such a manner that they are destroyed and are not recoverable, unless an alarm resulted in an arrest, a citation, or protective custody, or identified a vehicle that was the subject of a missing person or wanted broadcast [...] https://law.justia.com/codes/new-hampshire/2022/title-xxi/title-261/section-261-75-b/ https://law.justia.com/codes/new-hampshire/2022/title-xxi/ti...
- pc86 3y ago
  This seems absolutely reasonable. Keep the data about people who have committed or you can reasonably suspect might be committing a crime, get rid of the identifiable information for law-abiding citizens and maybe keep the aggregated metadata. This should be the standard IMO.
tyingq 3y ago
It's also often incorrectly thought of as heavily democrat or liberal, perhaps due to association with neighbors like Massachusetts and Vermont. It's somewhat true, but the balance is much closer to 50/50 than those neighbors. And the largest newspaper is very Republican centric.
- ztetranz 3y ago
  If it wasn't for our former governor John Sununu, (father of the current one), the US response to climate change might have been quite different.

stpe 3y ago

Should it not be ”Live free and die” then?

rsynnott 3y ago

Or, y'know, both, in this case. (Huh; I had no idea there was anywhere left in the developed world where they weren't mandatory.)