HB 372 – AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
11Mar2009… 0613h
2009 SESSION
03/10
HOUSE BILL 372
AN ACT relative to drivers’ licenses for persons with certain seizure disorders.
SPONSORS: Rep. Harding, Graf 11; Rep. Pilliod, Belk 5; Rep. Nordgren, Graf 9; Rep. Schulze, Hills 26; Rep. Houde-Quimby, Sull 1; Sen. Gilmour, Dist 12; Sen. Sgambati, Dist 4
This bill authorizes the division of motor vehicles to revoke the driver’s license of a person with a seizure disorder that affects his or her ability to drive a motor vehicle.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
11Mar2009… 0613h
09-0566
03/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Nine
AN ACT relative to drivers’ licenses for persons with certain seizure disorders.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Section; License Suspension or Revocation; Seizure Standards. Amend RSA 263 by inserting after section 59 the following new section:
263:59-a Seizure Standards.
I. In this section:
(a) “Aura” means a sensation experienced before the onset of a seizure episode.
(b) “Medical examination report” means a general summary, which shall not include specific medical information, of the results of a medical examination based on the following information:
(1) Age at onset of seizures, diagnosis, and history.
(2) Aftereffects of seizures.
(3) EEG findings, if any.
(4) Description, cause, frequency, duration, and date of most recent seizure.
(5) Current medications, including dosage, side effects, and serum level.
(6) The physician’s medical opinion as to whether or not the seizure disorder will affect the person’s ability to operate a motor vehicle. A seizure disorder does not affect a person’s ability to operate a motor vehicle safely if any of the following are true:
(A) Any seizure occurring within the last 3 months was due to a change in anticonvulsant medication ordered by a physician and whether or not seizure control after the change in medication has been established with reasonable medical certainty.
(B) Any seizure occurring within the last 3 months was a single event that a physician concludes with reasonable medical certainty will not recur in the future.
(C) If the seizures are likely to occur or have an established pattern of occurring only during sleep.
(D) If the seizures have an established pattern of an aura of sufficient duration to allow the person safely and immediately to cease operating a motor vehicle upon the onset of the aura.
(c) “Seizure” means a neurological disorder characterized by a sudden alteration in consciousness, sensation, motor control, or behavior, due to an abnormal electrical discharge in the brain.
II. The division shall revoke a person’s driver’s license or nonresident driving privileges if a medical examination report shows that the person has a seizure disorder that affects the person’s ability to operate a motor vehicle.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.