HOUSE TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
HOUSE BILL 176
48th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2007
AN ACT
RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLES; REQUIRING CERTAIN MOTOR VEHICLES TO BE EQUIPPED WITH MUDGUARD FLAPS; CREATING A PENALTY.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
Section 1. Section 66-1-4.14 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1990, Chapter 120, Section 15, as amended) is amended to read:
"66-1-4.14. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Motor Vehicle Code:
A. "park" or "parking" means the standing of a vehicle, whether occupied or not, other than temporarily for the purpose of and while actually engaged in loading and unloading;
B. "parking lot" means a parking area provided for the use of patrons of any office of state or local government or of any public accommodation, retail or commercial establishment;
C. "parts car" means a motor vehicle generally in nonoperable condition that is owned by a collector to furnish parts that are usually nonobtainable from normal sources, thus enabling a collector to preserve, restore and maintain a motor vehicle of historic or special interest;
D. "pedestrian" means any natural person on foot;
E. "person" means every natural person, firm, copartnership, association, corporation or other legal entity;
F. "personal information" means information that identifies an individual, including an individual's photograph, social security number, driver identification number, name, address other than zip code, telephone number and medical or disability information, but "personal information" does not include information on vehicles, vehicle ownership, vehicular accidents, driving violations or driver status;
G. "pickup truck" means a motor vehicle with four wheels and an open bed or cargo area that may be covered with a camper, camper shell, tarp, removable or opening lid or similar structure;
[G.] H. "placard" or "parking placard" means a card-like device that identifies the vehicle as being currently in use to transport a person with severe mobility impairment and issued pursuant to Section 66-3-16 NMSA 1978 to be displayed inside a motor vehicle so as to be readily visible to an observer outside the vehicle;
[H.] I. "pneumatic tire" means every tire in which compressed air is designed to support the load;
[I.] J. "pole trailer" means any vehicle without motive power, designed to be drawn by another vehicle and attached to the towing vehicle by means of a reach or pole or by being boomed or otherwise secured to the towing vehicle and ordinarily used for transporting long or irregularly shaped loads such as poles, structures, pipes and structural members capable, generally, of sustaining themselves as beams between the supporting connections;
[J.] K. "police or peace officer" means every officer authorized to direct or regulate traffic or to make arrests for violations of the Motor Vehicle Code;
[K.] L. "private road or driveway" means every way or place in private ownership used for vehicular travel by the owner and those having express or implied permission from the owner, but not other persons; and
[L.] M. "property owner" means the owner of a piece of land or the agent of that property owner."
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:
(1) other than a nonrepairable vehicle, of a type subject to registration that has been wrecked, destroyed or damaged excluding, pursuant to rules issued by the department, hail damage, to the extent that the owner, leasing company, financial institution or the insurance company that insured or is responsible for repair of the vehicle considers it uneconomical to repair the vehicle and that is subsequently not repaired by or for the person who owned the vehicle at the time of the event resulting in damage; or
(2) that was determined to be uneconomical to repair and for which a total loss payment is made by an insurer, whether or not the vehicle is subsequently repaired, if, prior to or upon making payment to the claimant, the insurer obtained the agreement of the claimant to the amount of the total loss settlement and informed the claimant that, pursuant to rules of the department, the title must be branded and submitted to the department for issuance of a salvage certificate of title for the vehicle;
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 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 students; or
(3) operated as a per capita feeder as defined in Section 22-16-6 NMSA 1978;
E. "seal" means the official seal of the taxation and revenue department as designated by the secretary;
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;
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;
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;
I. "slow-moving vehicle" means a vehicle that is ordinarily moved, operated or driven at a speed less than twenty-five miles per hour;
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;
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;
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;
M. "sport utility vehicle" means a motor vehicle designed to carry ten or fewer persons that is constructed on a truck chassis or that has special features for off-road use;
[M.] N. "state" means a state, territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia or a province of the Dominion of Canada;
[N.] O. "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;
[O.] P. "stop", when required, means complete cessation from movement;
[P.] Q. "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;
[Q.] R. "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;
[R.] S. "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 the person incapable of safely driving a motor vehicle, regardless of whether the person's sentence was suspended or deferred; and
[S.] T. "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. A new section of the Motor Vehicle Code is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] MOTOR VEHICLES TO BE EQUIPPED WITH MUDGUARD FLAPS.--
A. On and after July 1, 2007, every new truck, pickup truck or sport utility vehicle sold or purchased in New Mexico for operation on its streets and highways that has rear tires larger than a tire with a service type "LT", a section width of two hundred sixty-five millimeters, a sidewall aspect ratio of seventy percent of the section width and a wheel diameter rating of sixteen inches, or tires designed for off-road use or use other than customary use on streets and highways, shall be equipped by the seller with mudguard flaps protecting the rear tires from ejecting material to the rear of the truck, pickup truck or sport utility vehicle.
B. On and after July 1, 2012, a truck, pickup truck or sport utility vehicle, other than a historic or special interest vehicle or horseless carriage manufactured before 1977, with tires the size or type described in Subsection A of this section not otherwise equipped with mudguard flaps as described in Subsection C of this section, shall be equipped by the owner with mudguard flaps protecting the rear tires from ejecting material to the rear of the truck, pickup truck or sport utility vehicle.
C. The mudguard flaps required in Subsections A and B of this section shall be:
(1) wide enough to cover the full tread width of the tires being protected;
(2) installed as far to the rear of the motor vehicle as practicable so that they extend from the underside of the motor vehicle body in a vertical plane behind the rear wheels to within eight inches of the ground; and
(3) constructed of a rigid material or a flexible material that is of a sufficiently rigid character to provide adequate protection when the motor vehicle is in motion."
Section 4. Section 66-8-116 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1978, Chapter 35, Section 524, as amended) is amended to read:
"66-8-116. PENALTY ASSESSMENT MISDEMEANORS--
DEFINITION--SCHEDULE OF ASSESSMENTS.--
A. As used in the Motor Vehicle Code, "penalty assessment misdemeanor" means violation of any of the following listed sections of the NMSA 1978 for which, except as provided in Subsection D of this section, the listed penalty assessment is established:
COMMON NAME OF OFFENSE SECTION VIOLATED PENALTY
ASSESSMENT
Permitting unlicensed
minor to drive 66-5-40 $ 10.00
Failure to obey sign 66-7-104 10.00
Failure to obey signal 66-7-105 10.00
Speeding 66-7-301
(1) up to and including
ten miles an hour
over the speed limit 15.00
(2) from eleven up to
and including fifteen
miles an hour
over the speed limit 30.00
(3) from sixteen up to
and including twenty
miles an hour over the
speed limit 65.00
(4) from twenty-one up to
and including twenty-five
miles an hour
over the speed limit 100.00
(5) from twenty-six up to
and including thirty
miles an hour over the
speed limit 125.00
(6) from thirty-one up to
and including thirty-five
miles an hour over the
speed limit 150.00
(7) more than thirty-five
miles an hour over the
speed limit 200.00
Unfastened safety belt 66-7-372 25.00
Child not in restraint device
or seat belt 66-7-369 25.00
Minimum speed 66-7-305 10.00
Speeding 66-7-306 15.00
Improper starting 66-7-324 10.00
Improper backing 66-7-354 10.00
Improper lane 66-7-308 10.00
Improper lane 66-7-313 10.00
Improper lane 66-7-316 10.00
Improper lane 66-7-317 10.00
Improper lane 66-7-319 10.00
Improper passing 66-7-309 through 66-7-312 10.00
Improper passing 66-7-315 10.00
Controlled access
violation 66-7-320 10.00
Controlled access
violation 66-7-321 10.00
Improper turning 66-7-322 10.00
Improper turning 66-7-323 10.00
Improper turning 66-7-325 10.00
Following too closely 66-7-318 10.00
Failure to yield 66-7-328 through 66-7-331 10.00
Failure to yield 66-7-332 50.00
Failure to yield 66-7-332.1 25.00
Pedestrian violation 66-7-333 10.00
Pedestrian violation 66-7-340 10.00
Failure to stop 66-7-342 and 66-7-344
through 66-7-346 10.00
Railroad-highway grade
crossing violation 66-7-341 and 66-7-343 10.00
Passing school bus 66-7-347 100.00
Failure to signal 66-7-325 through 66-7-32710.00
Failure to secure load 66-7-407 100.00
Operation without oversize-
overweight permit 66-7-413 50.00
Improper equipment 66-3-801 10.00
Improper equipment 66-3-901 20.00
Improper emergency
signal 66-3-853 through 66-3-85710.00
Operation interference 66-7-357 5.00
Littering 66-7-364 300.00
Improper parking 66-7-349 through 66-7-352
and 66-7-353 5.00
Improper parking 66-3-852 5.00
Failure to dim lights 66-3-831 10.00
Riding in or towing
occupied house trailer 66-7-366 5.00
Improper opening of doors 66-7-367 5.00
No slow-moving vehicle
emblem or flashing
amber light 66-3-887 5.00
Open container - first
violation 66-8-138 25.00
Failure by owner to equip Subsection B of
with mudguard flaps Section 3 of this
2007 act 30.00.
B. The term "penalty assessment misdemeanor" does not include a violation that has caused or contributed to the cause of an accident resulting in injury or death to a person.
C. When an alleged violator of a penalty assessment misdemeanor elects to accept a notice to appear in lieu of a notice of penalty assessment, a fine imposed upon later conviction shall not exceed the penalty assessment established for the particular penalty assessment misdemeanor and probation imposed upon a suspended or deferred sentence shall not exceed ninety days.
D. The penalty assessment for speeding in violation of Paragraph (4) of Subsection A of Section 66-7-301 NMSA 1978 is twice the penalty assessment established in Subsection A of this section for the equivalent miles per hour over the speed limit."
Section 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 2007.
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