SENATE BILL 441

47th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2005

INTRODUCED BY

James G. Taylor

AN ACT

RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLES; DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN SALVAGE AND NONREPAIRABLE VEHICLES FOR TITLE PURPOSES; LIMITING SALE OF NONREPAIRABLE VEHICLES TO LICENSED WRECKERS OF VEHICLES; AMENDING, REPEALING AND ENACTING SECTIONS OF THE NMSA 1978.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     Section 1. Section 66-1-4.12 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1990, Chapter 120, Section 13) is amended to read:

     "66-1-4.12. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Motor Vehicle Code:

          A. "nonrepairable vehicle" means a vehicle, other than an abandoned vehicle, that has value only as a source of parts or scrap material, has been designated by its owner for dismantling as a source of parts or scrap material, has been stripped of substantially all body panels, interior components, grill and light assemblies, doors and hatches or has been damaged to the extent that it cannot be repaired for safe operation on the highway;

          [A.] B. "nonresident" means every person who is not a resident of this state;

          [B.] C. "nonresident commercial driver's license" means a commercial driver's license issued by a state defined within "state" to an individual who resides in another state or foreign jurisdiction; and

          [C.] D. "nonresident's operating privilege" means the privilege conferred upon a nonresident by the laws of this state pertaining to the operation by the nonresident of a motor vehicle, or the use of a motor vehicle owned by the nonresident, in this state."

     Section 2. Section 66-1-4.16 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1990, Chapter 120, Section 17, as amended) is amended to read:

     "66-1-4.16. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Motor Vehicle Code:

          A. "safety glazing materials" means glazing materials constructed, treated or combined with other materials to reduce substantially, in comparison with ordinary sheet glass or plate glass, the likelihood of injury to persons by objects from exterior sources or by these safety glazing materials when they are cracked and broken;

          B. "safety zone" means the area or space that is officially set apart within a highway for the exclusive use of pedestrians and that is protected or is so marked or indicated by adequate signs as to be plainly visible at all times while set apart as a safety zone;

          C. "salvage vehicle" means a vehicle, other than a nonrepairable vehicle, that is damaged, excluding hail damage, to the extent that the cost of repairing the vehicle for safe operation on the highway exceeds its fair market value or that has been declared a total loss by an insurance company even though the vehicle could be repaired for safe operation on the highway;

          [C.] D. "school bus" means a commercial motor vehicle used to transport preprimary, primary or secondary school students from home to school, from school to home or to and from school-sponsored events, but not including a vehicle:

                (1) operated by a common carrier, subject to and meeting all requirements of the public regulation commission but not used exclusively for the transportation of [pupils] students;

                (2) operated solely by a government-owned transit authority, if the transit authority meets all safety requirements of the public regulation commission but is not used exclusively for the transportation of [pupils] students; or

                (3) operated as a per capita feeder as defined in Section 22-16-6 NMSA 1978;

          [D.] E. "seal" means the official seal of the taxation and revenue department as designated by the secretary;

          [E.] F. "secretary" means the secretary of taxation and revenue, and, except for the purposes of Sections 66-2-3

and 66-2-12 NMSA 1978, also includes the deputy secretary and any division director delegated by the secretary;

          [F.] G. "semitrailer" means a vehicle without motive power, other than a pole trailer, designed for carrying persons or property and for being drawn by a motor vehicle and so constructed that some significant part of its weight and that of its load rests upon or is carried by another vehicle;

          [G.] H. "sidewalk" means a portion of street between the curb lines, or the lateral lines of a roadway, and the adjacent property lines, intended for the use of pedestrians;

          [H.] I. "slow-moving vehicle" means a vehicle that is ordinarily moved, operated or driven at a speed less than twenty-five miles per hour;

          [I.] J. "solid tire" means every tire of rubber or other resilient material that does not depend upon compressed air for the support of the load;

          [J.] K. "special mobile equipment" means a vehicle not designed or used primarily for the transportation of persons or property and incidentally operated or moved over the highways, including but not limited to farm tractors, road construction or maintenance machinery, ditch-digging apparatus, well-boring apparatus and concrete mixers;

          [K.] L. "specially constructed vehicle" means a vehicle of a type required to be registered under the Motor Vehicle Code not originally constructed under a distinctive name, make, model or type by a generally recognized manufacturer of vehicles and not materially altered from its original construction;

          [L.] M. "state" means a state, territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia or a province of the Dominion of Canada;

          [M.] N. "state highway" means a public highway that has been designated as a state highway by the legislature, the state transportation commission or the secretary of transportation;

          [N.] O. "stop", when required, means complete cessation from movement;

          [O.] P. "stop, stopping or standing", when prohibited, means any stopping or standing of a vehicle, whether occupied or not, except when necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic or in compliance with the directions of a police officer or traffic-control sign or signal;

          [P.] Q. "street" or "highway" means a way or place generally open to the use of the public as a matter of right for the purpose of vehicular travel, even though it may be temporarily closed or restricted for the purpose of construction, maintenance, repair or reconstruction;

          [Q.] R. "subsequent offender" means a person who was previously a first offender and who again, under state law, federal law or a municipal ordinance or a tribal law, has been adjudicated guilty of the charge of driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug that rendered [him] the person incapable of safely driving a motor vehicle, regardless of whether the person's sentence was suspended or deferred; and

          [R.] S. "suspension" means that a person's driver's license and privilege to drive a motor vehicle on the public highways are temporarily withdrawn."

     Section 3. Section 66-3-10.1 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1990, Chapter 120, Section 24) is repealed and a new Section 66-3-10.1 NMSA 1978 is enacted to read:

     "66-3-10.1. [NEW MATERIAL] SALVAGE VEHICLES--NONREPAIRABLE VEHICLES--CERTIFICATE OF TITLE--TRANSFER OF OWNERSHIP.--

          A. A person shall not sell or otherwise convey ownership of a salvage vehicle or nonrepairable vehicle unless the certificate of title conveying ownership indicates the vehicle as "salvage" or "nonrepairable", or a comparable title document has been issued by another state or jurisdiction.

          B. This section does not apply to:

                (1) a person who sells or otherwise conveys ownership if the damage making the vehicle salvage or nonrepairable did not occur when the person was the registered owner and the certificate of title did not indicate "salvage" or "nonrepairable" when it was transferred to that person; or

                (2) a person conveying ownership of a vehicle to an insurance company as a result of a total loss insurance settlement. For the purpose of this paragraph, "total loss insurance settlement" means the transfer of ownership of a vehicle by a person to an insurance company as a result of a settlement in which the vehicle is determined to be salvage or nonrepairable.

          C. If a nonrepairable certificate of title is issued for a vehicle, the department shall not issue any further certificate of title for that vehicle.

          D. The ownership of a nonrepairable vehicle shall only be sold or otherwise conveyed to a licensed wrecker of vehicles for reclaimable parts or scrap material.

          E. A nonrepairable vehicle shall not be repaired for operation on the highway."

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