HOUSE BILL 294

49th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2009

INTRODUCED BY

Rick Miera

AN ACT

RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLES; AUTHORIZING MEDIUM-SPEED VEHICLES, UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS, TO BE DRIVEN ON CERTAIN STREETS, ROADWAYS AND HIGHWAYS.

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

     Section 1. Section 66-1-4.11 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1990, Chapter 120, Section 12, as amended) is amended to read:

     "66-1-4.11. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Motor Vehicle Code:

          A. "mail" means any item properly addressed with postage prepaid delivered by the United States postal service or any other public or private enterprise primarily engaged in the transport and delivery of letters, packages and other parcels;

          B. "manufactured home" means a movable or portable housing structure that exceeds either a width of eight feet or a length of forty feet, constructed to be towed on its own chassis and designed to be installed with or without a permanent foundation for human occupancy;

          C. "manufacturer" means every person engaged in the business of constructing or assembling vehicles of a type required to be registered under the Motor Vehicle Code;

          D. "manufacturer's certificate of origin" means a certification, on a form supplied by or approved by the department, signed by the manufacturer that the new vehicle or boat described in the certificate has been transferred to the New Mexico dealer or distributor named in the certificate or to a dealer duly licensed or recognized as such in another state, territory or possession of the United States and that such transfer is the first transfer of the vehicle or boat in ordinary trade and commerce;

          E. "medium-speed vehicle" means a self-propelled electrically powered four-wheeled motor vehicle, whose speed attainable in one mile is more than thirty miles per hour but not more than forty miles per hour, that otherwise meets or exceeds federal regulations set forth in 49 C.F.R. 571.500 and that is equipped with:

                (1) a roll cage and substantially crush-resistant body design;

                (2) a three point seat belt system for the driver and each passenger seat as designated by the manufacturer;

                (3) a fully enclosed passenger compartment with all glass conforming to federal safety glass requirements for motor vehicles, including an "A-1" one-fourth inch laminated safety glass windshield or its equivalent; and

                (4) drive-train, engine and battery components mounted in a forward engine compartment that is in front of the occupant;

          [E.] F. "moped" means a two-wheeled or three-wheeled vehicle with an automatic transmission and a motor having a piston displacement of less than fifty cubic centimeters, that is capable of propelling the vehicle at a maximum speed of not more than thirty miles an hour on level ground, at sea level;

          [F.] G. "motorcycle" means every motor vehicle having a seat or saddle for the use of the rider and designed to travel on not more than three wheels in contact with the ground, excluding a tractor;

          [G.] H. "motor home" means a camping body built on a self-propelled motor vehicle chassis so designed that seating for driver and passengers is within the body itself;

          [H.] I. "motor vehicle" means every vehicle that is self-propelled and every vehicle that is propelled by electric power obtained from batteries or from overhead trolley wires, but not operated upon rails; but for the purposes of the Mandatory Financial Responsibility Act, "motor vehicle" does not include "special mobile equipment"; and

          [I.] J. "motor vehicle insurance policy" means a policy of vehicle insurance that covers self-propelled vehicles of a kind required to be registered pursuant to New Mexico law for use on the public streets and highways. A "motor vehicle insurance policy":

(1) shall include:

                     (a) motor vehicle bodily injury and property damage liability coverages in compliance with the Mandatory Financial Responsibility Act; and

                     (b) uninsured motorist coverage, subject to the provisions of Section 66-5-301 NMSA 1978 permitting the insured to reject such coverage; and

                (2) may include:

                     (a) physical damage coverage;

                     (b) medical payments coverage; and

                     (c) other coverages that the insured and the insurer agree to include within the policy."

     Section 2. A new section of the Motor Vehicle Code is enacted to read:

     "[NEW MATERIAL] MEDIUM-SPEED VEHICLE.--

          A. A medium-speed vehicle shall be equipped with headlamps, stop lamps, front and rear turn signal lamps, tail lamps, reflex reflectors, a parking brake, at least one interior and one exterior rear-view mirror, a windshield, windshield wipers, a speedometer, an odometer, braking for each wheel, seat belts and a vehicle identification number.

          B. A medium-speed vehicle, properly registered pursuant to the provisions of the Motor Vehicle Code, in compliance with the Mandatory Financial Responsibility Act and driven by an individual with a valid driver's license, may be operated on any street, roadway or highway under the jurisdiction of either the state or a local authority if the posted maximum speed limit is forty-five miles per hour or less; provided that a medium-speed vehicle may cross an intersection or permitted crossing point at any street, roadway or highway that has a posted maximum speed limit higher than forty-five miles per hour.

          C. Medium-speed vehicles are exempt from the following provisions:

                (1) the emblems or flashing lights requirement for slow-moving vehicles in Section 66-3-887 NMSA 1978;

                (2) any requirement for vehicle emission inspections adopted by a local authority pursuant to Subsection C of Section 74-2-4 NMSA 1978; and

                (3) the minimum motor displacement requirement of Paragraph (2) of Subsection A of Section 66-7-405 NMSA 1978."