New Hampshire is a good place to ride and a hard place to get hit safely. In 2023 it had the lowest per-capita bicyclist death rate in the country, 0.07 deaths per 100,000 residents against a national rate of 0.35, and cyclists were just 0.8 percent of the state's traffic deaths, tied with Tennessee for the smallest share in the nation.1 That statistic is cold comfort when you're the one on the pavement. When a driver hits a cyclist here, the value of the claim turns on a specific set of New Hampshire rules. The national hub covers the general concepts; this page covers what those state rules do to the number.
The three-year filing deadline
You have three years from the date of the crash to file suit over your injuries. RSA 508:4, I, sets that limit for "all personal actions."2 Blow past it and the claim is almost always gone, however serious the injury. The same three-year statute covers your property damage, meaning the bike, the helmet, and the gear, so both parts of the case run on one clock. A narrow discovery rule can push the start date back for an injury you could not reasonably have known about, but in a bike-versus-car crash the clock almost always starts the day it happens.2
How fault splits the money
Fault is usually the biggest lever on a New Hampshire settlement. Start from the baseline that a cyclist here is a full legal road user: RSA 265:143 gives anyone on a bicycle all the rights and all the duties of a driver, so riding lawfully in the road is not, by itself, something an insurer can charge against you.3
The state follows modified comparative negligence with a 51 percent bar. Under RSA 507:7-d, you can recover as long as your share of the fault is "not greater than" the driver's, and whatever you recover drops by your own percentage.4 Value the damages at $100,000 and assign you 20 percent of the blame, and you collect $80,000. Reach 51 percent and you collect nothing. Because a few points can swing thousands of dollars, adjusters push hard to pin blame on the rider.
Two New Hampshire rules shape that fight. The passing law comes first. RSA 265:143-a requires a driver approaching a bicycle to leave a "reasonable and prudent distance," presumed to be at least three feet at 30 mph or under, plus another foot for every 10 mph above that.5 A motorist who clipped you mid-pass was very likely breaking this statute, and that is direct evidence of negligence.
Helmets come second, and the rule here cuts in the rider's favor more than people expect. A helmet is only required for riders under 16, under RSA 265:144.6 Adults face no helmet mandate. An insurer may still argue a helmet would have limited a head injury, but for an adult, riding bareheaded breaks no law, so it can't be treated as negligence per se the way running a stop sign would be.
What the driver's insurance actually pays
New Hampshire is not a no-fault state. There is no PIP and no 14-day treatment deadline like Florida's; you pursue the at-fault driver's liability insurance. The trouble is how little that policy has to hold. RSA 264:20 sets the minimum at $25,000 per person, $50,000 per crash, and $25,000 for property damage.7 A fractured pelvis and a few weeks off work can run past $25,000 in hospital charges alone, and you usually can't collect more than the policy limit unless other coverage exists.
Two other coverages matter a great deal to injured cyclists. The first is medical payments coverage. Every private-passenger auto policy in the state must carry at least $1,000 per person in med pay, and it covers costs incurred within three years of the crash no matter who was at fault, under RSA 264:16.8 RSA 264:17 then makes those benefits non-subrogable, so the insurer can't take the money back out of your eventual settlement.9 A thousand dollars is modest, but it pays fast and it stays yours.
The second is uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, and it is often what separates a real recovery from an empty judgment. RSA 264:15 requires your own insurer to provide UM/UIM equal to the liability limits you bought, unless you rejected it in writing.10 If the driver carried only the $25,000 minimum, or fled the scene, or had no insurance at all, your UM/UIM can step in up to your limits. Check your auto policy even though you were on a bicycle, because this coverage generally follows you as a person rather than a single car.
What isn't in the settlement
Two rules cap the top end. New Hampshire bars punitive damages: RSA 507:16 says "no punitive damages shall be awarded in any action, unless otherwise provided by statute."11 Even against a drunk driver, you can't add them as a separate category. What you can pursue is the full range of compensatory damages, medical bills, lost income, future care, and pain and suffering, and the state sets no statutory dollar cap on those in an ordinary crash case.
There is one route to a second source of money. If the driver had been served alcohol while already visibly drunk or while underage, RSA 507-F lets an injured third party sue the bar or server who over-served, which adds a defendant when the driver's own limits fall short.12
Distraction feeds the fault side too. RSA 265:79-c, in force since July 1, 2015, bans holding a phone to talk, text, or browse while driving and bars anyone under 18 from using a device at all.13 If the driver who hit you was on a handheld phone, that violation strengthens your negligence claim.
Your bike, the report, and getting help
Damage to the bicycle is its own property-damage claim on the same three-year clock. If a car insurer is lowballing the repair or the loss of a good bike, the vehicle side has its own rules; see the New Hampshire diminished value guide. Pull the police crash report early too, since it fixes the officer's first account of who did what; here's how to get a New Hampshire crash report.
Fault percentages, thin policy limits, and stacking UM/UIM are where an experienced New Hampshire injury lawyer earns the fee, especially when the driver's coverage won't cover your bills. You can start with the legal directory.
This is general information about New Hampshire law, not legal advice.
Sources
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National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Traffic Safety Facts 2023 Data: Bicyclists and Other Cyclists (DOT HS 813 739, July 2025). https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/813739.pdf
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N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 508:4, I (limitation of personal actions). https://www.gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LII/508/508-4.htm
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N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 265:143 (bicycle riders have the rights and duties of drivers). https://www.gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XXI/265/265-143.htm
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N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 507:7-d (comparative fault). https://www.gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LII/507/507-7-d.htm
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N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 265:143-a (approaching a bicycle; safe passing distance). https://www.gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XXI/265/265-143-a.htm
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N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 265:144 (riding on bicycles; helmet required under 16). https://www.gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XXI/265/265-144.htm
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N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 264:20 (financial responsibility limits). https://www.gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XXI/264/264-20.htm
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N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 264:16 (medical payments coverage). https://www.gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XXI/264/264-16.htm
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N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 264:17 (no subrogation for medical payments). https://www.gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XXI/264/264-17.htm
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N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 264:15 (uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage). https://www.gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XXI/264/264-15.htm
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N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 507:16 (punitive damages barred). https://www.gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LII/507/507-16.htm
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N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. ch. 507-F (alcoholic beverage licensee liability). https://www.gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LII/507-F/507-F-mrg.htm
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N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 265:79-c (use of mobile electronic devices while driving). https://www.gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XXI/265/265-79-c.htm