SENATE BILL 844

48th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2007

INTRODUCED BY

Vernon D. Asbill

AN ACT

RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLES; REQUIRING DISCLOSURE OF EVENT DATA RECORDERS IN MOTOR VEHICLES; RESTRICTING THE USE OF EVENT DATA RECORDERS.

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

     Section 1. Section 66-1-4.5 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1990, Chapter 120, Section 6, as amended) is amended to read:

     "66-1-4.5. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Motor Vehicle Code:

          A. "essential parts" means all integral and body parts of a vehicle of a type required to be registered by the provisions of the Motor Vehicle Code, the removal, alteration or substitution of which would tend to conceal the identity of the vehicle or substantially alter its appearance, model, type or mode of operation;

          B. "established place of business", for a dealer or auto recycler, means a place:

                (1) devoted exclusively to the business for which the dealer or auto recycler is licensed and related business;

                (2) identified by a prominently displayed sign giving the dealer's or auto recycler's trade name used by the business;

                (3) of sufficient size or space to permit the display of one or more vehicles or to permit the parking or storing of vehicles to be dismantled or wrecked for recycling;

                (4) on which there is located an enclosed building on a permanent foundation, which building meets the building requirements of the community and is large enough to accommodate the office or offices of the dealer or auto recycler and large enough to provide a safe place to keep the books and records of the dealer or auto recycler;

                (5) where the principal portion of the business of the dealer or auto recycler is conducted and where the books and records of the business are kept and maintained; and

                (6) where vehicle sales are of new vehicles only, such as a department store or a franchisee of a department store, as long as the department store or franchisee keeps the books and records of its vehicle business in a general office location at its place of business; as used in this paragraph, "department store" means a business that offers a variety of merchandise other than vehicles, and sales of the merchandise other than vehicles constitute at least eighty percent of the gross sales of the business; [and]

          C. "event data recorder" means a device installed in a motor vehicle by its manufacturer for the purpose of retrieving information about the operation of the motor vehicle, including data relating to speed, direction, location, functioning, performance and use of safety devices in the motor vehicle; and

          [C.] D. "explosives" means any chemical compound or mechanical mixture that is commonly used or intended for the purpose of producing an explosion and that contains any oxidizing and combustive units or other ingredients in such proportions, quantities or packing that an ignition by fire, friction, concussion, percussion or detonator of any part of the compound or mixture may cause such a sudden generation of highly heated gases that the resultant gaseous pressures are capable of producing destructive effects on contiguous objects or of destroying life or limb."

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

     "[NEW MATERIAL] EVENT DATA RECORDERS--NOTICE--USE.--

          A. If a motor vehicle is equipped with an event data recorder, that fact shall be disclosed:

                (1) in the owner's manual in bold-faced type, beginning January 1, 2008; and

                (2) by any subscription service that uses information from an event data recorder in the subscription service agreement.

          B. Information from an event data recorder shall not be retrieved or downloaded by anyone other than the legal or registered owner of the motor vehicle, except in the following circumstances:

                (1) the registered owner consents to the retrieval of the data;

                (2) in response to an order of a court having jurisdiction to issue the order;

                (3) to improve motor vehicle safety, provided that the identity of the registered owner or driver is not disclosed in connection with the data; and

                (4) to diagnose, service or repair the motor vehicle.

          C. Information from an event data recorder retrieved in violation of this section is inadmissible as evidence in any civil, criminal or administrative action."

- 4 -