44TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - FIRST SESSION, 1999

RELATING TO PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES; PROVIDING FOR PARKING FOR THE SEVERELY MOBILITY IMPAIRED; AMENDING AND ENACTING SECTIONS OF THE NMSA 1978.

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

Section 1. Section 3-51-46 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1973, Chapter 22, Section 3) is amended to read:

"3-51-46. PASSENGER MOTOR VEHICLE OF DISABLED PERSON--PARKING PRIVILEGE.--Passenger motor vehicles owned by [disabled] persons with severe mobility impairment and carrying special registration plates or passenger motor vehicles carrying persons with severe mobility impairment and displaying parking placards issued pursuant to Section [64-3-12.3 NMSA 1953] 66-3-16 NMSA 1978 shall be permitted to park for unlimited periods of time in parking zones restricted as to length of time parking is normally permitted and are exempt from payment of any parking meter or parking authorization fee of the state or its political subdivisions. The provisions of this section shall prevail over any other law, regulation or local ordinance but do not apply to zones where stopping, standing or parking is prohibited, zones reserved for special types of vehicles, zones where parking is prohibited during certain hours of the day in order to facilitate traffic during those hours when parking is prohibited and zones subject to similar regulation because parking presents a traffic hazard."

Section 2. Section 66-1-4.1 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1990, Chapter 120, Section 2) is amended to read:

"66-1-4.1. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Motor Vehicle Code:

A. "abandoned vehicle" means a vehicle or motor vehicle that has been determined by a New Mexico law enforcement agency:

(1) to have been left unattended on either public or private property for at least thirty days;

(2) not to have been reported stolen;

(3) not to have been claimed by any person asserting ownership; and

(4) not to have been shown by normal record checking procedures to be owned by any person;

B. "access aisle" means an accessible pedestrian space of at least sixty inches in width that allows side access the length of its adjacent designated disabled parking space and is marked with blue striping; provided that van-accessible access aisles shall be at least ninety-six inches in width;

[B.] C. "additional place of business", for dealers and wreckers of vehicles, means locations in addition to an established place of business as defined in Section 66-1-4.5 NMSA 1978 and meeting all the requirements of an established place of business, except Paragraph (5) of Subsection B of Section 66-1-4.5 NMSA 1978, but "additional place of business" does not mean a location used solely for storage and that is not used for wrecking, dismantling, sale or resale of vehicles;

[C.] D. "alcoholic beverages" means any [and all] distilled or rectified spirits, potable alcohol, brandy, whiskey, rum, gin, aromatic bitters or any similar alcoholic beverage, including all blended or fermented beverages, dilutions or mixtures of one or more of the foregoing containing more than one-half of one percent alcohol but excluding medicinal bitters; and

[D.] E. "authorized emergency vehicle" means any fire department vehicle, police vehicle, ambulance and any emergency vehicles of municipal departments or public utilities that are designated or authorized as emergency vehicles by the director of the New Mexico state police division of the department of public safety or local authorities."

Section 3. Section 66-1-4.4 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1990, Chapter 120, Section 5, as amended) is amended to read:

"66-1-4.4. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Motor Vehicle Code:

A. "day" means calendar day, unless otherwise provided in the Motor Vehicle Code;

B. "dealer", except as herein specifically excluded, means any person who sells or solicits or advertises the sale of new or used motor vehicles, manufactured homes or trailers subject to registration in this state; "dealer" does not include:

(1) receivers, trustees, administrators, executors, guardians or other persons appointed by or acting under judgment, decree or order of any court;

(2) public officers while performing their duties as such officers;

(3) persons making casual sales of their own vehicles;

(4) finance companies, banks and other lending institutions making sales of repossessed vehicles; or

(5) licensed brokers under the Manufactured Housing Act who, for a fee, commission or other valuable consideration, engage in brokerage activities related to the sale, exchange or lease purchase of pre-owned manufactured homes on a site installed for a consumer;

C. "declared gross weight" means the maximum gross vehicle weight or combination gross vehicle weight at which a vehicle or combination will be operated during the registration period, as declared by the registrant for registration and fee purposes; the vehicle or combination shall have only one declared gross weight for all operating considerations;

D. "department" means the taxation and revenue department, the secretary of taxation and revenue or any employee of the department exercising authority lawfully delegated to that employee by the secretary;

E. "designated disabled parking space" means any space marked and reserved for the parking of a passenger vehicle that carries registration plates or a placard indicating disability in accordance with Section 66-3-16 NMSA 1978; such a place shall be designated by a conspicuously posted sign bearing the international disabled symbol of a wheelchair [or] and, if the designated space is paved, by a clearly visible depiction of this symbol painted on the pavement of the space and an access aisle adjacent to the space; provided that two designated disabled parking spaces may share a common aisle;

F. "director" means the secretary;

G. "disqualification" means a prohibition against driving a commercial motor vehicle;

H. "distinguishing number" means the number assigned by the department to a vehicle whose identifying number has been destroyed or obliterated or the number assigned by the department to a vehicle that has never had an identifying number;

I. "distributor" means any person who distributes or sells new or used motor vehicles to dealers and who is not a manufacturer;

J. "division", without further specification, "division of motor vehicles" or "motor vehicle division" means the department;

K. "driver" means every person who drives or is in actual physical control of a motor vehicle, including a motorcycle, upon a highway, who is exercising control over or steering a vehicle being towed by a motor vehicle or who operates or is in actual physical control of an off-highway motor vehicle;

L. "driver's license" means a license or a class of license issued by a state or other jurisdiction to an individual that authorizes the individual to drive a motor vehicle; and

M. "driveaway-towaway operation" means any operation in which any motor vehicle, new or used, is the item being transported when one set or more of wheels of any such motor vehicle is on the roadway during the course of transportation, whether or not the motor vehicle furnishes the motive power."

Section 4. 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 [containing fifteen or more parking spaces] provided for the [free] 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] inoperable condition that is owned by a collector to furnish parts that are usually [nonobtainable] unobtainable 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. "pneumatic tire" means every tire in which compressed air is designed to support the load;

H. "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;

I. "police or peace officer" means every officer authorized to direct or regulate traffic or to make arrests for violations of the Motor Vehicle Code;

J. "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

K. "property owner" means the owner of a piece of land or the agent of that property owner."

Section 5. Section 66-3-16 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1978, Chapter 35, Section 36, as amended) is amended to read:

"66-3-16. SEVERE MOBILITY IMPAIRMENT--SPECIAL REGISTRATION PLATES--[DISABLED PERSONS--DISPLAY DEVICE] PARKING PLACARDS.--

A. The [division] department shall issue distinctive registration plates to [any disabled] a person with severe mobility impairment who so requests and [who proves satisfactorily to the division] establishes to the department's satisfaction that he has suffered the loss of, or the complete and total loss of use of, one or both legs at or above the ankle or of one or both arms at or above the wrist for use on motor vehicles owned by the person. No fee in addition to the regular registration fee, if any, applicable to the motor vehicle shall be collected for issuance of special registration plates pursuant to this section.

B. No person shall falsely represent himself to [be disabled] have a severe mobility impairment so as to be eligible to be issued special registration plates or [display devices] a parking placard pursuant to this section when he is in fact not [disabled] severely mobility impaired.

Upon notice and opportunity to be heard, the [division] department may revoke and demand return of any placard when:

(1) it was issued in error or with false information;

(2) the person receiving the placard is no longer eligible; or

(3) the placard is being used by ineligible persons.

C. Upon written application to the [division] department accompanied by a medical statement by a licensed physician or other licensed health care provider authorized by rule of the governor's committee on concerns of the handicapped to provide such medical statements attesting to the [disability] severe mobility impairment, a resident of the state who has a [disability] severe mobility impairment that limits or impairs the ability to walk, as provided in [Subsection G of] this section, may apply for and be granted the issuance of [a placard] not more than two parking placards for display upon a motor vehicle registered to him or motor vehicle owned by another person who is transporting him. [The director may charge a reasonable fee to cover the cost of the placard and of its issuance. The fee shall be retained by the division and shall be appropriated to the division for expenditures incurred in the implementation of the placard replacement program.] The medical statement shall distinguish between a chronic severe mobility impairment that will remain unchanged or worsen during the lifetime of the applicant and a non-chronic severe mobility impairment that may improve or be ameliorated during the lifetime of the applicant. When the medical statement identifies the applicant as having a chronic severe mobility impairment, the applicant shall be allowed to renew his placard and no additional medical statement shall be required. The application for a parking placard shall be deemed to be a waiver of the doctor-patient privilege of confidentiality to the minimum extent necessary to verify the information contained in the application, and the application shall advise the applicant of this waiver.

D. A parking placard issued pursuant to this section [shall expire in no more than two years] on or after July 1, 1999 shall be valid for no more than four years and shall expire on the last day of the applicant's birth month.

E. The [division] department shall issue two-sided hanger-style parking placards with the following characteristics:

(1) the international symbol of access shall be displayed on both sides of the parking placard and shall be at least three inches in height, centered on the parking placard and white on a blue [shield] field;

(2) an identification number enabling the [division] department to identify the holder of each parking placard. The [division] department shall maintain this information in a readily retrievable format and make it available on demand to any law enforcement agency or the governor's committee on concerns of the handicapped;

(3) the date of expiration; and

(4) the [division] department seal or other identification of the issuing authority.

F. Upon written application to the [division] department accompanied by a medical statement from a licensed physician or other licensed health care provider authorized by rule of the governor's committee on concerns of the handicapped to provide such medical statements attesting to a temporary [disability] severe mobility impairment, a person who has a temporary [disability] severe mobility impairment that limits or impairs the ability to walk may be issued a temporary parking placard [which shall be distinguishable in appearance from placards valid for two years]. The medical statement shall include the period of time that the [physician] health care provider determines the applicant will have the [disability] severe mobility impairment. A temporary parking placard issued pursuant to this section shall be valid for no more than six months.

G. For the purpose of obtaining a placard, a person with a ["disability that limits or impairs the ability to walk"] severe mobility impairment means the person:

(1) cannot walk one hundred feet without stopping to rest;

(2) cannot walk without the use of a brace, a cane, a crutch, another person, a prosthetic device, a wheelchair or another assistive device;

(3) is restricted by lung disease to such an extent that the person's forced respiratory volume, when exhaling for one second, when measured by spirometry, is less than one liter or the arterial oxygen tension is less than sixty millimeters on room air at rest;

(4) uses portable oxygen;

(5) has a severe cardiac condition; or

(6) is so severely limited in his ability to walk due to an arthritic, neurologic or orthopedic condition that the person cannot ascend or descend more than ten stair steps.

H. Special registration plates or placards issued to [the disabled] a person with severe mobility impairment by another state or foreign jurisdiction shall be granted reciprocity while the vehicle [and disabled operator are] or parking placard holder is in this state [for a period not to exceed thirty days].

I. All parking placards [shall be] issued [in accordance with this section beginning on July 1, 1995. All placards issued prior to July 1, 1995 shall expire on July 1, 1996] on or after July 1, 1999 shall be issued in accordance with the provisions of this section."

Section 6. Section 66-3-16.1 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1995, Chapter 129, Section 2) is amended to read:

"66-3-16.1. PROVIDING FALSE INFORMATION--PENALTY.--

A. Any person who provides false information in order to acquire, or who assists an unqualified person in acquiring, a special registration plate or [special] parking placard as provided in Section 66-3-16 NMSA 1978 is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be sentenced pursuant to the provisions of Section [31-19-1] 66-8-7 NMSA 1978.

B. A person who uses a parking placard to park in a designated disabled parking space and is neither the holder of the parking placard nor assisting in the transportation of the holder is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be sentenced pursuant to the provisions of Section 66-8-7 NMSA 1978. When a law enforcement officer finds that a person is using a parking placard that does not belong to him or his passenger, the officer may confiscate the placard. The law enforcement agency shall return the parking placard to the department. The department shall hold the parking placard until the department receives a written request for the parking placard's return from the parking placard holder. Failure to surrender the parking placard on demand of a law enforcement officer is a petty misdemeanor and punishable by a fine not to exceed one hundred dollars ($100)."

Section 7. Section 66-7-352.4 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1983, Chapter 45, Section 4) is amended to read:

"66-7-352.4. PARKING LOTS--STANDARDS.--

A. Every parking lot coming under the provisions of the Disabled Parking Standards and Enforcement Act shall have designated disabled parking spaces, including access aisles as provided in [Subsection B of] this section [provided that an office of state or local government shall have a minimum of one such parking space]. No building permit shall be issued by the state or any local government for the construction or substantial renovation of a commercial building inviting public access unless the parking lot has designated disabled parking spaces as delineated in Subsection B of this section.

B. The minimum numbers of designated disabled parking spaces are as follows:

TOTAL SPACES IN PARKING LOT MINIMUM DESIGNATED DISABLED

PARKING SPACES

[0 to 14 0

15] 1 to 25 1

26 to 35 2

36 to 50 3

51 to 100 4

101 to 300 8

301 to 500 12

501 to 800 16

801 to 1,000 20

more than 1,000 20, plus [3] 1 for each

additional [1,000] 100.

The designated disabled parking spaces shall be located so as to provide the most convenient access to entranceways or to the nearest curb cut. One of every eight designated disabled parking spaces, but not less than one, shall be designated as van accessible.

C. In parking lots with five or fewer parking spaces, one accessible parking space shall be provided but need not be designated by sign and pavement painting. Use of the undesignated accessible parking space by a vehicle without a special registration plate or parking placard is not a violation of Section 66-7-352.5 NMSA 1978."

Section 8. Section 66-7-352.5 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1983, Chapter 45, Section 5, as amended) is amended to read:

"66-7-352.5. UNAUTHORIZED USE--PENALTY.--[A.] It is unlawful for any person to park a motor vehicle not carrying registration plates or a parking placard indicating [disability] severe mobility impairment in accordance with Section 66-3-16 NMSA 1978 in a designated disabled parking space [or blocking a curb cut]. It is unlawful for any person to park a vehicle with or without a special registration plate or parking placard in a position that blocks a curb cut or access aisle. Any person who violates this subsection is subject to a [fifty-dollar ($50.00)] one hundred dollar ($100) fine

[B. A person charged with a violation of Subsection A of this section shall not be determined to have committed an infraction if he produces in court special disabled registration plates or a placard indicating disability in accordance with Section 66-3-16 NMSA 1978 or demonstrates he was entitled to such at the time of the violation] and the vehicle may be towed at the owner's expense."

Section 9. 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 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 speed limit 15.00

(2) from eleven up to

and including fifteen

miles an hour

over speed limit 30.00

(3) from sixteen up to

and including twenty

miles an hour over

speed limit 65.00

(4) from twenty-one up to

and including twenty-five

miles an hour

over 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 66-7-332 10.00

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 66-7-341 through 66-7-346 10.00

Passing school bus 66-7-347 100.00

Failure to signal 66-7-325 through 66-7-327 10.00

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 66-3-857 10.00

Operation interference 66-7-357 5.00

Litterbugging 30-8-4 50.00

Litterbugging 30-8-10 100.00

Litterbugging 66-7-364 100.00

Improper parking 66-7-349 through

66-7-352 and 66-7-353 5.00

Improper parking 66-7-352.5 [50.00] 100.00

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.

B. The term "penalty assessment misdemeanor" does not include any violation that has caused or contributed to the cause of an accident resulting in injury or death to any 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, no fine imposed upon later conviction shall exceed the penalty assessment established for the particular penalty assessment misdemeanor and no probation imposed upon a suspended or deferred sentence shall exceed ninety days."

Section 10. A new section of the Motor Vehicle Code is enacted to read:

"[NEW MATERIAL] LONG-TERM CARE FACILITY PARKING PLACARDS--ELIGIBILITY--REQUIRED REPORTS.--

A. Upon application satisfactory to the department, an administrator of a long-term care facility licensed by the department of health may be granted one parking placard for each long-term care facility under his direct supervision in the state for use in the transport of persons with severe mobility impairment in situations in which it is impractical for the person being transported to obtain and use his own parking placard.

B. A long-term care facility parking placard shall expire annually on the last day of the month in which it was issued.

C. A long-term care facility parking placard may be renewed upon application to the department if the administrator of the long-term care facility provides the information reasonably requested by the department, including the number of persons with severe mobility impairments and the number of persons without severe mobility impairments transported in the year prior to renewal. The information may be provided by the department to the governor's committee on concerns of the handicapped.

D. A person who uses a long-term care facility's parking placard when not engaged in the transport of a person with severe mobility impairment or an administrator who knowingly allows such use of the parking placard in violation of Subsection A of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be sentenced pursuant to the provisions of Section 66-8-7 NMSA 1978."

Section 11. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 1999.