Section 266:72 Spillage of Material.
I. No vehicle shall be driven or moved on any way unless such vehicle is so constructed or loaded as to prevent any of its load from dropping, sifting, leaking or otherwise escaping therefrom, except that sand may be dropped for the purpose of securing traction, or water or other substance may be sprinkled on a way in cleaning or maintaining such way.
II. No person shall operate on any way any vehicle with any load unless said load and any covering thereon is securely fastened so as to prevent said covering or load from becoming loose, detached, or in any manner a hazard to other users of the way. Without limiting the foregoing provision, no person shall drive on any way any open vehicle loaded with earth, sand, asphalt, stone, gravel, or other particulate substance unless said vehicle is equipped with and said load is entirely covered and secured by a tarpaulin or similar covering which prevents the escape of any substance from said load onto the way.
II-a. No person shall operate on any way any open vehicle loaded with light scrap metal, unless the load is covered with and secured by a close-fitting tarpaulin which prevents the escape of any light scrap metal from the load onto the way. For the purposes of this paragraph ""light scrap metal'' means any fragments less than 8 inches wide and no more than 1/8 inch thick of manufactured metal articles or shredded metal parts rejected or discarded and useful only as material for reprocessing. The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to truck operators transporting crushed vehicles to shredding facilities or to transporters of heavy scrap metals to or from metal scrap dealers or remelting facilities.
III. Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a violation if a natural person, or guilty of a misdemeanor if any other person. Any person shall be liable to the state or town for any damage done to the way by spillage.
IV. The provisions of paragraphs I, II, II-a, and III of this section shall not apply to a local farmer transporting his own farm products or materials incidental to his farming operations where such transporting requires incidental use of a way, provided that such farmer shall not thereby be relieved of his duty to exercise reasonable care in carrying on such operations.
V. The provisions of paragraphs II and II-a shall not apply to:
(a) The operation of construction equipment as defined in RSA 259:42 and motor vehicles used in the construction of highways provided that such equipment or motor vehicle is used within a highway construction zone as prescribed by the commissioner of transportation, provided that the driver of any such vehicle shall not thereby be relieved of the duty to exercise reasonable care;
(b) The operation of municipal and state highway maintenance equipment;
(c) The driving of any vehicle on a way at speeds of less than 30 miles per hour.