0001| AN ACT | 0002| RELATING TO SKIING; REVISING THE SKI SAFETY ACT; AMENDING SECTIONS OF | 0003| THE NMSA 1978. | 0004| | 0005| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO: | 0006| Section 1. Section 24-15-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1969, Chapter 218, Section 2, as | 0007| amended) is amended to read: | 0008| "24-15-2. PURPOSE OF ACT.-- | 0009| A. In order to safeguard life, health, property and the welfare of this state, it is the | 0010| policy of New Mexico to protect its citizens and visitors from unnecessary hazards in the | 0011| operation of ski lifts and passenger aerial tramways and to require liability insurance to be carried | 0012| by operators of ski lifts and tramways. The primary responsibility for the safety of operation, | 0013| maintenance, repair and inspection of ski lifts and tramways rests with the operators of such | 0014| devices. The primary responsibility for the safety of the individual skier while engaging in the | 0015| sport of skiing rests with the skier himself. The state, through the Ski Safety Act, recognizes | 0016| these responsibilities and duties on the part of the ski area operator and the skier. | 0017| B. It is recognized that there are inherent risks in the sport of skiing, which | 0018| should be understood by each skier and which are essentially impossible to eliminate by the ski | 0019| area operator. It is the purpose of the Ski Safety Act to define those areas of responsibility and | 0020| affirmative acts for which ski area operators shall be liable for loss, damage or injury and those | 0021| risks which the skier or passenger expressly assumes and for which there can be no recovery." | 0022| Section 2. Section 24-15-3 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1979, Chapter 279, Section 3) is | 0023| amended to read: | 0024| "24-15-3. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Ski Safety Act: | 0025| A. "ski lift" means any device operated by a ski area operator used to transport | 0001| passengers by single or double reversible tramway, chair lift or gondola lift, T-bar lift, J-bar lift, | 0002| platter lift or similar device or a fiber rope tow; | 0003| B. "passenger" means any person, at any time in the year, who is lawfully using a | 0004| ski lift or is waiting to embark or has recently disembarked from a ski lift and is in its immediate | 0005| vicinity; | 0006| C. "ski area" means the property owned, permitted, leased or under the control of | 0007| the ski area operator and administered as a single enterprise within the state; | 0008| D. "ski area operator" means any person, partnership, corporation or other | 0009| commercial entity and its agents, officers, employees or representatives who has operational | 0010| responsibility for any ski area or ski lift; | 0011| E. "skiing" means participating in the sport in which a person slides on snow, ice | 0012| or a combination of snow and ice while using skis; | 0013| F. "skiing area" means all slopes, trails, terrain parks and competition areas, not | 0014| including any ski lift; | 0015| G. "skier" means any person, including a person enrolled in ski school or other | 0016| class for instruction, who is on skis and present at a skiing area under the control of a ski area | 0017| operator for the purpose of engaging in the sport of skiing by utilizing the ski slopes and trails | 0018| and does not include a passenger; | 0019| H. "ski slopes and trails" means those areas designated by the ski area operator to | 0020| be used by skiers for the purpose of participating in the sport of skiing; | 0021| I. "ski retention device" means a device designed to help prevent runaway skis; | 0022| and | 0023| J. "skis" means any device used for skiing, including alpine skis, telemark skis, | 0024| cross-country skis, mono-skis, snowboards, bladerunners, adaptive devices used by disabled | 0025| skiers, or tubes, sleds or any other device used to accomplish the same or a similar purpose to | 0001| participate in the sport of skiing." | 0002| Section 3. Section 24-15-4 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1969, Chapter 218, Section 4) is | 0003| amended to read: | 0004| "24-15-4. INSURANCE.-- | 0005| A. Every operator shall file with the state corporation commission and keep on | 0006| file therewith proof of financial responsibility in the form of a current insurance policy in a form | 0007| approved by the commission, issued by an insurance company authorized to do business in the | 0008| state, conditioned to pay, within the limits of liability herein prescribed, all final judgments for | 0009| personal injury or property damage proximately caused or resulting from negligence of the | 0010| operator covered thereby, as such negligence is defined and limited by the Ski Safety Act. The | 0011| minimum limits of liability insurance to be provided by operators shall be as follows: | 0012| SKI SAFETY ACT | 0013| LIABILITY INSURANCE | 0014| LIMITS OF LIABILITY | 0015| REQUIRED MINIMUM COVERAGES | 0016| FOR INJURIES, DEATH OR DAMAGES | 0017| LIMITS FOR BODILY | 0018| INJURY TO OR DEATH | 0019| LIMITS FOR BODILY OF ALL PERSONS | 0020| KIND AND NUMBER INJURY TO OR DEATH INJURED OR KILLED PROPERTY | 0021| OF LIFTS OPERATED OF ONE PERSON IN ANY ONE ACCIDENT DAMAGE | 0022| Not more than | 0023| three surface lifts $ 100,000 $ 300,000 $ 5,000 | 0024| Not more than | 0025| three ski lifts, | 0001| including one or more | 0002| chair lifts 250,000 500,000 25,000 | 0003| More than three | 0004| ski lifts or one | 0005| or more tramways 500,000 1,000,000 50,000. | 0006| B. No ski lift or tramway shall be operated in this state after the effective date of | 0007| the Ski Safety Act unless a current insurance policy as required herein is in effect and properly | 0008| filed with the state corporation commission. Each policy shall contain a provision that it cannot | 0009| be canceled prior to its expiration date without thirty days' written notice of intent to cancel | 0010| served by registered mail on the insured and on the commission." | 0011| Section 4. Section 24-15-5 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1969, Chapter 218, Section 5) is | 0012| amended to read: | 0013| "24-15-5. PENALTY.--Any operator convicted of operating a ski lift or aerial passenger | 0014| tramway without having obtained and kept in force an insurance policy as required by the Ski | 0015| Safety Act is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars | 0016| ($500) for each day of illegal operation. The attorney general or the district attorney of the | 0017| county where the ski area is located has the power to bring proceedings in the district court of the | 0018| county in which the ski area is located to enjoin the operation of any ski lift or tramway being | 0019| operated without a current insurance policy, in the amounts prescribed herein, being obtained and | 0020| kept in force and covering the operator concerned." | 0021| Section 5. Section 24-15-7 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1979, Chapter 279, Section 4) is | 0022| amended to read: | 0023| "24-15-7. DUTIES OF SKI AREA OPERATORS WITH RESPECT TO SKIING | 0024| AREAS.--Every ski area operator shall have the following duties with respect to the operation of | 0025| a skiing area: | 0001| A. to mark all snow-maintenance vehicles and to furnish such vehicles with | 0002| flashing or rotating lights, which shall be in operation whenever the vehicles are working or are in | 0003| movement in the skiing area; | 0004| B. to mark with a visible sign or other warning implement the location of any | 0005| hydrant or similar equipment used in snow-making operations and located on ski slopes and trails; | 0006| C. to mark in a plainly visible manner the top or entrance to each slope, trail or | 0007| area with the appropriate symbol for its relative degree of difficulty, using the symbols | 0008| established or approved by the national ski areas association; and those slopes, trails or areas | 0009| which are closed, or portions of which present an unusual obstacle or hazard, shall be marked at | 0010| the top or entrance or at the point of the obstacle or hazard with the appropriate symbols as are | 0011| established or approved by the national ski areas association or by the New Mexico ski area | 0012| operators association; | 0013| D. to maintain one or more trail boards at prominent locations at each ski area | 0014| displaying that area's network of ski trails and slopes with each trail and slope rated in accordance | 0015| with the symbols and containing a key to the symbols; | 0016| E. to designate by trail board or otherwise at the top of or entrance to the subject | 0017| trail or slope which trails or slopes are open or closed; | 0018| F. to place or cause to be placed, whenever snow-maintenance vehicles or snow- | 0019| making operations are being undertaken upon any trail or slope while such trail or slope is open to | 0020| the public, a conspicuous notice to that effect at or near the top or entrance of such trail or slope; | 0021| G. to provide ski patrol personnel trained in first aid, which training meets at | 0022| least the requirements of the national ski patrol outdoor emergency care course, and also trained | 0023| in winter rescue and toboggan handling to serve the anticipated number of injured skiers and to | 0024| provide personnel trained for the evacuation of passengers from stalled aerial ski lifts. A first aid | 0025| room or building shall be provided with adequate first aid supplies, and properly equipped rescue | 0001| toboggans shall be made available at all reasonable times at the top of ski slopes and trails to | 0002| transport injured skiers from the ski slopes and trails to the first aid room; | 0003| H. to post notice of the requirements of the Ski Safety Act concerning the use of | 0004| ski retention devices; | 0005| I. to warn of or correct particular hazards or dangers known to the operator where | 0006| feasible to do so; and | 0007| J. to warn of snowmobiles or all-terrain vehicles (ATV's) operated on the ski | 0008| slopes or trails with at least one lighted headlamp, one lighted red tail lamp, a brake system and a | 0009| fluorescent flag that is at least forty square inches and is mounted at least six feet above the | 0010| bottom of the tracks or tires." | 0011| Section 6. Section 24-15-10 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1979, Chapter 279, Section 7) is | 0012| amended to read: | 0013| "24-15-10. DUTIES OF THE SKIERS.-- | 0014| A. It is recognized that skiing as a recreational sport is inherently hazardous to | 0015| skiers, and it is the duty of each skier to conduct himself carefully. | 0016| B. A person who takes part in the sport of skiing accepts as a matter of law the | 0017| dangers inherent in that sport insofar as they are obvious and necessary. Each skier expressly | 0018| assumes the risk of and legal responsibility for any injury to person or property which results from | 0019| participation in the sport of skiing, in the skiing area, including any injury caused by the | 0020| following: variations in terrain; surface or subsurface snow or ice conditions; bare spots; rocks, | 0021| trees or other forms of forest growth or debris; lift towers and components thereof, pole lines and | 0022| snow-making equipment which are plainly visible or are plainly marked in accordance with the | 0023| provisions of Section 24-15-7 NMSA 1978; except for any injuries to persons or property | 0024| resulting from any breach of duty imposed upon ski area operators under the provisions of | 0025| Sections 24-15-7 and 24-15-8 NMSA 1978. Therefore, each skier shall have the sole individual | 0001| responsibility for knowing the range of his own ability to negotiate any slope or trail, and it shall | 0002| be the duty of each skier to ski within the limits of the skier's own ability, to maintain reasonable | 0003| control of speed and course at all times while skiing, to heed all posted warnings, to ski only on a | 0004| skiing area designated by the ski area operator and to refrain from acting in a manner which may | 0005| cause or contribute to the injury of anyone. | 0006| C. Responsibility for collisions by any skier while actually skiing, with any | 0007| person or object, shall be solely that of each individual involved in the collision, except where an | 0008| employee, agent or officer of the ski area operator is personally involved in a collision while in | 0009| the course and scope of his employment or where a collision resulted from any breach of duty | 0010| imposed upon a ski area operator under the provisions of Sections 24-15-7 or 24-15-8 NMSA | 0011| 1978. Each skier has the duty to stay clear of and avoid collisions with snow-maintenance | 0012| equipment, all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles marked in compliance with the provisions of | 0013| Subsections A and J of Section 24-15-7 NMSA 1978, all other vehicles, lift towers, signs and any | 0014| other structures, amenities or equipment on the ski slopes and trails or in the skiing area. | 0015| D. No person shall: | 0016| (1) place any object in the skiing area or on the uphill track of any ski lift | 0017| which may cause a passenger or skier to fall; | 0018| (2) cross the track of any T-bar lift, J-bar lift, platter lift or similar device | 0019| or a fiber rope tow, except at a designated location; | 0020| (3) when injured while skiing or using a ski lift or, while skiing, when | 0021| involved in a collision with any skier or object in which an injury results, leave the ski area before | 0022| giving his name and current address to the ski area operator, or representative or employee of the | 0023| ski area operator, and the location where the injury or collision occurred and the circumstances | 0024| thereof; provided, however, in the event a skier fails to give the notice required by this paragraph, | 0025| a court, in determining whether or not such failure constitutes a violation of the Ski Safety Act, | 0001| may consider the reasonableness or feasibility of giving such notice; or | 0002| (4) use a ski lift, skiing area, slopes or trails while intoxicated or under | 0003| the influence of any controlled substance. | 0004| E. No skier shall fail to wear retention straps or other ski retention devices to | 0005| help prevent runaway skis. | 0006| F. Any skier upon being injured shall indicate, to the ski patrol personnel offering | 0007| first aid treatment or emergency removal to a first aid room, his acceptance or rejection of such | 0008| services as provided by the ski area operator. If such service is not refused or if the skier is unable | 0009| to indicate his acceptance or rejection of such service, the acceptance of the service is presumed to | 0010| have been accepted by the skier. Such acceptance shall not constitute a waiver of any action for | 0011| negligent provision of the service by the ski patrol personnel." |