46th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2003

RELATING TO DRIVER'S LICENSES; CREATING MANDATORY DONOR STATUS FOR A PERSON OPERATING A MOTORCYCLE WITHOUT A HELMET WHO, AS THE RESULT OF AN ACCIDENT, IS PRONOUNCED BRAIN DEAD.

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

Section 1. Section 66-5-10 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1978, Chapter 35, Section 232, as amended) is amended to read:

"66-5-10. APPLICATION FOR LICENSE--INFORMATION--TRANSFER TO LICENSE.--

A. Within the forms prescribed by the department for applications and licenses of drivers of motor vehicles, a space shall be provided to show whether the applicant is a donor as provided in the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act. [It shall be assumed that an applicant applying for a license to operate a motorcycle is an organ donor unless the applicant affirmatively rejects donor status as prescribed by the form in Subsection B of this section.] Anyone [else] applying for a license may, if he desires, indicate his donor status on the space provided on the application, and this information, if given by an applicant, shall be shown upon the license issued. The form and driver's license shall be signed by the donor in the presence of a witness who shall also sign the form in the donor's presence. The department shall, as soon as practicable, include the following donor statement on the application form:

"I,____________________________, hereby make an

(Name of applicant/donor)

anatomical gift effective upon my death. A

medical evaluation at the time of my death shall

determine the organs and tissues suitable for

donation.

____________________________________

(Signature of donor)

____________________________________

(Signature of parent or guardian is required if the donor is under sixteen years of age.)".

B. The department shall mark the donor status on [each] a person's driver's license record and shall retain [each] an application form or its image of a person who wishes to be a donor. The department shall create and maintain a statewide donor registry and shall provide on-line computer terminal access to the donor registry to organ procurement agencies and procurement organizations, as defined in the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act. Authorized hospital or organ and tissue donor program personnel, immediately prior to or after a donor's death, may request verification of the donor's status from the department and may obtain a copy of the application from the department.

C. Within the forms prescribed by the department for applications and licenses of drivers of motor vehicles, a space shall be provided for the following statement, which the department shall, as soon as practicable, include on the application form:

"As a condition of being issued a license to operate motor vehicles in New Mexico, a person operating a motorcycle without a helmet and who, as the result of an accident, is pronounced brain dead pursuant to Section 12-2-4 NMSA 1978 by a licensed physician shall become an organ donor regardless of whether the person made an anatomical gift by completing the organ donor statement provided on this application or pursuant to Section 24-6A-2 NMSA 1978 of the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act."."

Section 2. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 2003.