NMSA 1978, § 66-1-1 Short title
66-1-1. Short title
Articles 1 through 8 of Chapter 66 NMSA 1978 [except 66-7-102.1 NMSA 1978] may be cited as the "Motor Vehicle Code".
1953 Comp., § 64-1-1, enacted by Laws 1978, ch. 35, § 1.
General Provisions
NMSA 1978 ch. 66, art. 1
in effectNMSA 1978, § 66-1-2 Severability
66-1-2. Severability
If any part or application of the Motor Vehicle Code is held invalid, the remainder, or its application to other situations or persons, shall not be affected.
1953 Comp., § 64-1-2, enacted by Laws 1978, ch. 35, § 2.
NMSA 1978, § 66-1-3 Savings clauses
66-1-3. Savings clauses
A. All valid certificates of title issued under the provisions of previously existing laws shall continue in effect and shall be considered as having been issued under the provisions of the Motor Vehicle Code.
B. All registration cards and registration plates issued under the provisions of previously existing laws shall continue to be valid until their expiration or termination as determined by the prior law.
C. All liens and bonds filed under the provisions of previously existing laws shall continue to be valid until their expiration or termination as determined by the prior law.
D. All licenses and all demonstration numbers, special plates and special permits issued under the provisions of previously existing law shall continue to be valid until their expiration or termination as determined by the prior law.
E. The division is directed to administer the provisions of previously existing laws to effect the provisions of this section.
1953 Comp., § 64-1-3, enacted by Laws 1978, ch. 35, § 3; 1987, ch. 268, § 16.
NMSA 1978, § 66-1-4 Definitions
66-1-4. Definitions
A. Sections 66-1-4.1 through 66-1-4.20 NMSA 1978 define terms for general purposes of the Motor Vehicle Code. When in a specific section of the Motor Vehicle Code a different meaning is given for a term defined for general purposes in Sections 66-1-4.1 through 66-1-4.20 NMSA 1978, the specific section's meaning and application of the term shall control.
B. All references in the Motor Vehicle Code and elsewhere in the NMSA 1978 to Section 66-1-4 NMSA 1978 shall be construed to include Sections 66-1-4.1 through 66-1-4.20 NMSA 1978.
C. All references in the NMSA 1978 to the "department of motor vehicles" or "department" shall, whenever appropriate, mean the taxation and revenue department.
D. All references in the NMSA 1978 to the "commissioner of motor vehicles" or "commissioner" shall, whenever appropriate, mean the secretary.
1953 Comp., § 64-1-4, enacted by Laws 1978, ch. 35, § 4; 1979, ch. 71, § 1; 1981, ch. 361, § 2; 1983, ch. 295, § 27; 1987, ch. 250, § 1; 1987, ch. 268, § 17; 1988, ch. 56, § 2; 1989, ch. 318, § 1; 1990, ch. 120, § 1; 1991, ch. 160, § 1.
NMSA 1978, § 66-1-4.1 Definitions
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 a space designed to allow a person with a significant mobility limitation to safely exit and enter a motor vehicle that is immediately adjacent to a designated parking space for persons with significant mobility limitation and that may be common to two such parking spaces of at least sixty inches in width or, if the parking space is designed for van accessibility, ninety-six inches in width, and clearly marked and maintained with blue striping and, after January 1, 2011, the words "NO PARKING" in capital letters, each of which shall be at least one foot high and at least two inches wide, placed at the rear of the access aisle so as to be close to where an adjacent vehicle's rear tires would be placed;
C. "actual empty weight" means the weight of a vehicle without a load;
D. "additional place of business", for dealers and auto recyclers, 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 C 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;
E. "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 percent alcohol but excluding medicinal bitters;
F. "authorized emergency vehicle" means any fire department vehicle, police vehicle and 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;
G. "autocycle" means a three-wheeled motorcycle on which the driver and all passengers ride in a completely or partially enclosed seating area and that is manufactured to comply with all applicable federal standards, regulations and laws and is equipped with:
(1) non-straddle seating;
(2) rollover protection;
(3) safety belts for all occupants;
(4) antilock brakes;
(5) a steering wheel; and
(6) pedals;
H. "automated driving system" means the hardware and software that are collectively capable of performing the entire dynamic driving task on a sustained basis, regardless of whether it is limited to a specific operational design domain; "automated driving system" is used specifically to describe a level three, four or five driving automation system as defined in society of automotive engineers standard J3016, as published in the Taxonomy and Definitions for Terms Related to Driving Automation Systems for On-Road Motor Vehicles;
I. "autonomous commercial motor vehicle" means a commercial motor vehicle, as defined in Subsection J of Section 66-1-4.3 NMSA 1978, that is being controlled by an automated driving system;
J. "autonomous motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle that is being controlled by an automated driving system;
K. "autonomous motor vehicle operator" means the person who engages the automated driving system of an autonomous motor vehicle or autonomous commercial motor vehicle;
L. "autonomous motor vehicle testing" or "autonomous commercial motor vehicle testing" means activities taken in full or in part to evaluate and assess:
(1) the automated driving system's performance of the dynamic driving task; and
(2) the automated driving system's performance with respect to applicable safety areas as defined by the federal national highway traffic safety administration for autonomous vehicle operations; and
M. "auto recycler" means a person engaged in this state in an established business that includes acquiring vehicles that are required to be registered under the Motor Vehicle Code for the purpose of dismantling, wrecking, shredding, compacting, crushing or otherwise destroying vehicles for reclaimable parts or scrap material to sell.
1978 Comp., § 66-1-4.1, enacted by Laws 1990, ch. 120, § 2; 1999, ch. 297, § 4; 2005, ch. 324, § 1; 2007, ch. 319, § 2; 2010, ch. 74, § 2; 2011, ch. 78, § 1; 2015, ch. 53, § 2; 2017, ch. 54, § 1; 2021, ch. 114, § 1.
NMSA 1978, § 66-1-4.2 Definitions
66-1-4.2. Definitions
As used in the Motor Vehicle Code:
A. "bicycle" means every device propelled by human power upon which any person may ride, having two tandem wheels, except scooters and similar devices;
B. "bureau" means the traffic safety bureau of the department of transportation;
C. "bus" means every motor vehicle designed and used for the transportation of persons and every motor vehicle, other than a taxicab, designed and used for the transportation of persons for compensation; and
D. "business district" means the territory contiguous to and including a highway when within any three hundred feet along the highway there are buildings in use for business or industrial purposes, including but not limited to hotels, banks or office buildings, railroad stations and public buildings that occupy at least fifty percent of the frontage on one side or fifty percent of the frontage collectively on both sides of the highway.
1978 Comp., § 66-1-4.2, enacted by Laws 1990, ch. 120, § 3; 1993, ch. 68, § 38; 2015, ch. 3, § 33.
NMSA 1978, § 66-1-4.3 Definitions
66-1-4.3. Definitions
As used in the Motor Vehicle Code:
A. "camping body" means a vehicle body primarily designed or converted for use as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping or travel activities excluding recreational vehicles unless used in commerce;
B. "camping trailer" means a camping body, mounted on a chassis, or frame with wheels, designed to be drawn by another vehicle and that has collapsible partial side walls that fold for towing and unfold at the campsite;
C. "cancellation" means that a driver's license is annulled and terminated because of some error or defect or because the licensee is no longer entitled to the license, but cancellation of a license is without prejudice, and application for a new license may be made at any time after cancellation;
D. "casual sale" means the sale of a motor vehicle by the registered owner of the vehicle if the owner has not sold more than four vehicles in that calendar year;
E. "chassis" means the complete motor vehicle, including standard factory equipment, exclusive of the body and cab;
F. "collector" means a person who is the owner of one or more vehicles of historic or special interest who collects, purchases, acquires, trades or disposes of these vehicles or parts thereof for the person's own use in order to preserve, restore and maintain a similar vehicle for hobby purposes;
G. "combination" means any connected assemblage of a motor vehicle and one or more semitrailers, trailers or semitrailers converted to trailers by means of a converter gear;
H. "combination gross vehicle weight" means the sum total of the gross vehicle weights of all units of a combination;
I. "commerce" means the transportation of persons, property or merchandise for hire, compensation, profit or in the furtherance of a commercial enterprise in this state or between New Mexico and a place outside New Mexico, including a place outside the United States;
J. "commercial motor vehicle" means a self-propelled or towed vehicle, other than special mobile equipment, used on public highways in commerce to transport passengers or property when the vehicle:
(1) is operated interstate and has a gross vehicle weight rating or gross combination weight rating, or gross vehicle weight or gross combination weight, of four thousand five hundred thirty-six kilograms, or ten thousand one pounds or more; or is operated only in intrastate commerce and has a gross vehicle weight rating or gross combination weight rating, or gross vehicle weight or gross combination weight, of twenty-six thousand one or more pounds;
(2) is designed or used to transport more than eight passengers, including the driver, and is used to transport passengers for compensation;
(3) is designed or used to transport sixteen or more passengers, including the driver, and is not used to transport passengers for compensation; or
(4) is used to transport hazardous materials of the type or quantity requiring placarding under rules prescribed by applicable federal or state law;
K. "controlled-access highway" means every highway, street or roadway in respect to which owners or occupants of abutting lands and other persons have no legal right of access to or from the highway, street or roadway except at those points only and in the manner as may be determined by the public authority having jurisdiction over the highway, street or roadway;
L. "controlled substance" means any substance defined in Section 30-31-2 NMSA 1978 as a controlled substance;
M. "converter gear" means any assemblage of one or more axles with a fifth wheel mounted thereon, designed for use in a combination to support the front end of a semitrailer but not permanently attached thereto. A converter gear shall not be considered a vehicle, as that term is defined in Section 66-1-4.19 NMSA 1978, but weight attributable thereto shall be included in declared gross weight;
N. "conviction":
(1) means:
(a) a finding of guilt in the trial court in regard to which the violator has waived or exhausted all rights to appeal;
(b) a plea of guilty or nolo contendere accepted by the court;
(c) an unvacated forfeiture of bail or collateral deposited to secure a person's appearance in court; or
(d) the promise to mail a payment on a penalty assessment; and
(2) does not include a conditional discharge as provided in Section 31-20-13 NMSA 1978 or a deferred sentence when the terms of the deferred sentence are met;
O. "credential holder" means a person who has been issued a physical or an electronic credential;
P. "crosswalk" means:
(1) that part of a roadway at an intersection included within the connections of the lateral lines of the sidewalks on opposite sides of the highway measured from the curbs or, in the absence of curbs, from the edges of the traversable roadway; and
(2) any portion of a roadway at an intersection or elsewhere distinctly indicated for pedestrian crossing by lines or other markings on the surface; and
Q. "curb cut" means a short ramp through a curb or built up to the curb.
1978 Comp., § 66-1-4.3, enacted by Laws 1990, ch. 120, § 4; 1998, ch. 34, § 1; 2001, ch. 127, § 1; 2003, ch. 10, § 3; 2005, ch. 312, § 1; 2007, ch. 321, § 1; 2009, ch. 200, § 3; 2024, ch. 13, § 1.
NMSA 1978, § 66-1-4.4 Definitions
66-1-4.4. Definitions
As used in the Motor Vehicle Code:
A. "data element" means a distinct component of a customer's information that is found on the department's customer record;
B. "day" means calendar day, unless otherwise provided in the Motor Vehicle Code;
C. "dealer", except as 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 [Chapter 60, Article 14 NMSA 1978] 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;
D. "declared gross weight" means the maximum gross vehicle weight or gross combination 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;
E. "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;
F. "designated accessible parking space for persons with significant mobility limitation" means any space, including an access aisle, that is marked and reserved for the parking of a passenger vehicle that carries registration plates or a parking placard with the international symbol of access issued in accordance with Section 66-3-16 NMSA 1978 and that is designated by a conspicuously posted sign bearing the international symbol of access and, if the parking space is paved, by a clearly visible depiction of this symbol painted in blue on the pavement of the space;
G. "director" means the secretary;
H. "disqualification" means a prohibition against driving a commercial motor vehicle;
I. "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;
J. "distributor" means a person who distributes or sells new or used motor vehicles to dealers and who is not a manufacturer;
K. "division", without further specification, "division of motor vehicles" or "motor vehicle division" means the department;
L. "driveaway-towaway operation" means an 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;
M. "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;
N. "driver-assisted platoon" means a series of motor vehicles platooning with a driver in each vehicle;
O. "driver's license" means any license, permit or driving authorization card issued by a state or other jurisdiction recognized under the laws of New Mexico pertaining to the authorizing of persons to operate motor vehicles and includes a REAL ID-compliant driver's license and a standard driver's license; and
P. "dynamic driving task" means all of the real-time operational and tactical functions required to operate a vehicle in on-road traffic, excluding the strategic functions such as trip scheduling and selection of destinations and waypoints.
1978 Comp., § 66-1-4.4, enacted by Laws 1990, ch. 120, § 5; 1991, ch. 160, § 2; 1999, ch. 297, § 5; 2007, ch. 319, § 3; 2016, ch. 79, § 1; 2019, ch. 167, § 1; 2021, ch. 114, § 2; 2024, ch. 13, § 2.
NMSA 1978, § 66-1-4.5 Definitions
66-1-4.5. Definitions
As used in the Motor Vehicle Code:
A. "electric-assisted bicycle" means a vehicle having two or three wheels, fully operable pedals and an electric motor. Electric-assisted bicycles are classified as follows:
(1) "class 1 electric-assisted bicycle" means an electric-assisted bicycle equipped with a motor not exceeding seven hundred fifty watts of power that provides assistance only when the rider is pedaling and that ceases to provide assistance when the bicycle reaches a speed of twenty miles per hour;
(2) "class 2 electric-assisted bicycle" means an electric-assisted bicycle equipped with a motor not exceeding seven hundred fifty watts of power that provides assistance regardless of whether the rider is pedaling but ceases to provide assistance when the bicycle reaches a speed of twenty miles per hour; and
(3) "class 3 electric-assisted bicycle" means an electric-assisted bicycle equipped with a motor not exceeding seven hundred fifty watts of power that provides assistance only when the rider is pedaling and that ceases to provide assistance when the bicycle reaches a speed of twenty-eight miles per hour;
B. "electric mobility device" means a two- or three-wheel vehicle with an electric motor for propulsion that does not meet the definition of an electric-assisted bicycle and is capable of exceeding a speed of twenty miles per hour on motor power alone;
C. "electric personal assistive mobility device" means a self-balancing device having two nontandem wheels designed to transport a single person by means of an electric propulsion system with an average power of one horsepower and with a maximum speed on a paved level surface of less than twenty miles per hour when powered solely by its propulsion system and while being ridden by an operator who weighs one hundred seventy pounds;
D. "electronic credential" means an electronic extension of the department-issued physical credential that conveys identity and driving privilege information;
E. "electronic credential system" means a digital process that includes a method for loading electronic credentials onto a device, issuing electronic credentials, requesting and transmitting electronic credential data elements and performing tasks to maintain the system;
F. "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;
G. "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
H. "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.
1978 Comp., § 66-1-4.5, enacted by Laws 1990, ch. 120, § 6; 2005, ch. 324, § 2; 2007, ch. 319, § 4; 2023, ch. 93, § 2; 2024, ch. 13, § 3.
NMSA 1978, § 66-1-4.6 Definitions
66-1-4.6. Definitions
As used in the Motor Vehicle Code:
A. "farm tractor" means every motor vehicle designed and used primarily as a farm implement for drawing plows, mowing machines and other implements of husbandry;
B. "financial responsibility" means the ability to respond in damages for liability resulting from traffic accidents arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of a motor vehicle of a type subject to registration under the laws of New Mexico, in amounts not less than specified in the Mandatory Financial Responsibility Act [66-5-201 to 66-5-239 NMSA 1978] or having in effect a motor vehicle insurance policy. "Financial responsibility" includes a motor vehicle insurance policy, a surety bond or evidence of a sufficient cash deposit with the state treasurer;
C. "first offender" means a person who for the first time under state or federal law or a municipal ordinance or a tribal law has been adjudicated guilty of the charge of driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any other drug that renders the person incapable of safely driving a motor vehicle, regardless of whether the person's sentence was suspended or deferred;
D. "flammable liquid" means any liquid that has a flash point of seventy degrees fahrenheit or less, as determined by a tagliabue or equivalent closed-cup test device;
E. "foreign jurisdiction" means any jurisdiction other than a state of the United States or the District of Columbia;
F. "foreign vehicle" means every vehicle of a type required to be registered under the provisions of the Motor Vehicle Code brought into this state from another state, territory or country; and
G. "freight trailer" means any trailer, semitrailer or pole trailer drawn by a truck tractor or road tractor, and any trailer, semitrailer or pole trailer drawn by a truck that has a gross vehicle weight of more than twenty-six thousand pounds, but "freight trailer" does not include manufactured homes, trailers of less than one-ton carrying capacity used to transport animals or fertilizer trailers of less than three thousand five hundred pounds empty weight.
1978 Comp., § 66-1-4.6, enacted by Laws 1990, ch. 120, § 7; 1998, ch. 34, § 2; 2003, ch. 164, § 1.
NMSA 1978, § 66-1-4.7 Definitions
66-1-4.7. Definitions
As used in the Motor Vehicle Code:
A. "gross combination vehicle weight" means the total of the gross vehicle weights of all units of a combination;
B. "gross combination weight rating" means the value specified by the manufacturer as the loaded weight of a combination; however, in the absence of a value specified by the manufacturer, the gross combination weight rating shall be determined by adding the gross vehicle weight rating of the power unit and the total weight of the towed unit or units and the load on those units;
C. "gross factory shipping weight" means the weight indicated on the manufacturer's certificate of origin;
D. "gross vehicle weight" means the weight of a loaded vehicle; and
E. "gross vehicle weight rating" means the value specified by the manufacturer as the loaded weight of a single vehicle.
1978 Comp., § 66-1-4.7, enacted by Laws 1990, ch. 120, § 8; 2007, ch. 319, § 5.
NMSA 1978, § 66-1-4.8 Definitions
66-1-4.8. Definitions
As used in the Motor Vehicle Code:
A. "hazardous material" means a substance or material in a quantity and form that may pose an unreasonable risk to health, safety or property when transported in commerce;
B. "highway" or "street" means every way or place generally open to the use of the public as a matter of right for the purpose of vehicular travel, even though it may be temporarily closed or restricted for the purpose of construction, maintenance, repair or reconstruction;
C. "historic or special interest vehicle" means a vehicle of any age that, because of its significance, is being collected, preserved, restored or maintained by a collector as a leisure pursuit;
D. "horseless carriage" means a motor vehicle at least thirty-five years old that is owned as a collector's item and used solely for exhibition and educational purposes; and
E. "house trailer" means a manufactured home.
1978 Comp., § 66-1-4.8, enacted by Laws 1990, ch. 120, § 9; 1991, ch. 160, § 3.
NMSA 1978, § 66-1-4.9 Definitions
66-1-4.9. Definitions
As used in the Motor Vehicle Code:
A. "identification card" means a document issued by the department or the motor vehicle administration of a state or other jurisdiction recognized under the laws of New Mexico that identifies the holder and includes a REAL ID-compliant identification card and a standard identification card;
B. "implement of husbandry" means every vehicle that is designed for agricultural purposes and exclusively used by the owner in the conduct of agricultural operations;
C. "international registration plan" means the registration reciprocity agreement among the contiguous states of the United States, the District of Columbia and provinces of Canada providing for payment of apportionable fees on the basis of total distance operated in all jurisdictions. The international registration plan is a method of registering fleets of vehicles that travel in two or more member jurisdictions and complies with the federal Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991;
D. "intersection" means:
(1) the area embraced within the prolongation or connection of the lateral curb lines or, if none, then the lateral boundary lines of the roadways of two highways that join one another at, or approximately at, right angles, or the area within which vehicles traveling upon different highways joining at any other angle may come in conflict; and
(2) where a highway includes two roadways thirty feet or more apart, every crossing of each roadway of that divided highway by an intersecting highway shall be regarded as a separate intersection; in the event that the intersecting highway also includes two roadways thirty feet or more apart, every crossing of two roadways of those highways shall be regarded as a separate intersection;
E. "inventory", when referring to a vehicle dealer, means a vehicle held for sale or lease in the ordinary course of business, the cost of which is used in calculating the dealer's cost of goods sold for federal income tax purposes; and
F. "jurisdiction", without modification, means "state".
1978 Comp., § 66-1-4.9, enacted by Laws 1990, ch. 120, § 10; 1998, ch. 48, § 1; 2015, ch. 9, § 1; 2019, ch. 167, § 2.
NMSA 1978, § 66-1-4.10 Definitions
66-1-4.10. Definitions
As used in the Motor Vehicle Code:
A. "laned roadway" means a roadway that is divided into two or more clearly marked lanes for vehicular traffic;
B. "law enforcement agency designated by the division" means the law enforcement agency indicated on the dismantler's notification form as the appropriate agency for the receipt of the appropriate copy of that form;
C. "lawful status" means the legal right to be present in the United States, as that phrase is used in the federal REAL ID Act of 2005;
D. "license", without modification, means any license, permit or driving authorization card issued by a state or other jurisdiction recognized under the laws of New Mexico pertaining to the authorizing of persons to operate motor vehicles and includes a REAL ID-compliant driver's license and a standard driver's license;
E. "lien" or "encumbrance" means every chattel mortgage, conditional sales contract, lease, purchase lease, sales lease, contract, security interest under the Uniform Commercial Code [Chapter 55 NMSA 1978] or other instrument in writing having the effect of a mortgage or lien or encumbrance upon, or intended to hold, the title to any vehicle in the former owner, possessor or grantor; and
F. "local authorities" means every county, municipality and any local board or body having authority to enact laws relating to traffic under the constitution and laws of this state.
1978 Comp., § 66-1-4.10, enacted by Laws 1990, ch. 120, § 11; 2016, ch. 79, § 2; 2019, ch. 167, § 3.
NMSA 1978, § 66-1-4.11 Definitions
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. "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. "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, including autocycles and excluding a tractor;
G. "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. "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, including an electric mobility device, but does not include an electric-assisted bicycle; for the purposes of the Mandatory Financial Responsibility Act [66-5-201 to 66-5-239 NMSA 1978], "motor vehicle" does not include "special mobile equipment"; and
I. "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.
1978 Comp., § 66-1-4.11, enacted by Laws 1990, ch. 120, § 12; 1998, ch. 34, § 3; 2007, ch. 319, § 6; 2015, ch. 53, § 3; 2023, ch. 93, § 3.
NMSA 1978, § 66-1-4.12 Definitions
66-1-4.12. Definitions
As used in the Motor Vehicle Code:
A. "natural gas vehicle" means a vehicle operated by an engine that primarily uses natural gas;
B. "neighborhood electric car" means a four-wheeled electric motor vehicle that has a maximum speed of more than twenty miles per hour but less than twenty-five miles per hour and complies with the federal requirements specified in 49 CFR 571.500;
C. "nonrepairable vehicle" means a vehicle of a type otherwise subject to registration that:
(1) has no resale value except as a source of parts or scrap metal or that the owner irreversibly designates as a source of parts or scrap metal or for destruction;
(2) has been substantially stripped as a result of theft or is missing all of the bolts on sheet metal body panels, all of the doors and hatches, substantially all of the interior components and substantially all of the grill and light assemblies and has little or no resale value other than its worth as a source of a vehicle identification number that could be used illegally; or
(3) is a substantially burned vehicle that has burned to the extent that there are no more usable or repairable body or interior components, tires and wheels or drive train components or that the owner irreversibly designates for destruction or as having little or no resale value other than its worth as a source of scrap metal or as a source of a vehicle identification number that could be used illegally;
D. "nonrepairable vehicle certificate" means a vehicle ownership document conspicuously labeled "NONREPAIRABLE" issued to the owner of the nonrepairable vehicle;
E. "nonresident" or "non-domiciled" means every person who is not a resident of this state;
F. "nonresident commercial driver's instruction permit" or "non-domiciled commercial driver's instruction permit" means a commercial driver's instruction permit issued by another state to a person domiciled in that state or by a foreign country to a person domiciled in that country;
G. "nonresident commercial driver's license" or "non-domiciled commercial driver's license" means a commercial driver's license issued by another state to a person domiciled in that state or by a foreign country to a person domiciled in that country; and
H. "nonresident's operating privilege" means the privilege conferred upon a nonresident by the laws of this state pertaining to the operation by the nonresident of a motor vehicle, or the use of a motor vehicle owned by the nonresident, in this state.
1978 Comp., § 66-1-4.12, enacted by Laws 1990, ch. 120, § 13; 2005, ch. 324, § 3; 2007, ch. 319, § 7; 2016, ch. 70, § 1; 2022, ch. 24, § 1.
NMSA 1978, § 66-1-4.13 Definitions
66-1-4.13. Definitions
As used in the Motor Vehicle Code:
A. "odometer" means a device for recording the total mileage traveled by a vehicle from the vehicle's manufacture and for so long as the vehicle is operable on the highways;
B. "off-highway motor vehicle" means any motor vehicle operated or used exclusively off the highways of this state and that is not legally equipped for operation on the highways of this state, but does not include an electric-assisted bicycle;
C. "official printout" means any record supplied by the division or a similar agency or government entity that indicates the lienholders of record or owners of record of a vehicle or motor vehicle registered within that government's jurisdiction or indicates information about a driver's license or identification card, including traffic violation history or status;
D. "official traffic-control devices" means all signs, signals, markings and devices consistent with the Motor Vehicle Code placed or erected, by authority of a public body or official having jurisdiction, for the purpose of regulating, warning or guiding traffic;
E. "operational design domain" means the specific conditions under which a given automated driving system or feature of the system is designed to function;
F. "operator" means driver, as defined in Section 66-1-4.4 NMSA 1978; and
G. "owner" means a person who holds the legal title of a vehicle and may include a conservator, guardian, personal representative, executor or similar fiduciary, or, in the event that a vehicle is the subject of an agreement for conditional sale or lease with the right of purchase upon performance of the conditions stated in the agreement and with an immediate right of possession vested in the conditional vendee or lessee, or, in the event that a mortgagor of a vehicle is entitled to possession, then such conditional vendee or lessee or mortgagor.
1978 Comp., § 66-1-4.13, enacted by Laws 1990, ch. 120, § 14; 2021, ch. 114, § 3; 2023, ch. 93, § 4.
NMSA 1978, § 66-1-4.14 Definitions
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 provided for the 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 condition that is owned by a collector to furnish parts that are usually nonobtainable 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, medical or disability information, sex, gender identity, immigration status or national origin, but "personal information" does not include information on vehicles, vehicle ownership, vehicular accidents, driving violations or driver status;
G. "placard" or "parking placard" means a card-like device that identifies the vehicle as being currently in use to transport a person with severe mobility impairment and issued pursuant to Section 66-3-16 NMSA 1978 to be displayed inside a motor vehicle so as to be readily visible to an observer outside the vehicle;
H. "platoon" means a series of motor vehicles that are traveling in a unified manner by means of being connected with wireless communications or other technology allowing for coordinated movement;
I. "pneumatic tire" means every tire in which compressed air is designed to support the load;
J. "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;
K. "police or peace officer" means every officer authorized to direct or regulate traffic or to make arrests for violations of the Motor Vehicle Code;
L. "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
M. "property owner" means the owner of a piece of land or the agent of that property owner.
1978 Comp., § 66-1-4.14, enacted by Laws 1990, ch. 120, § 15; 1995, ch. 135, § 1; 1999, ch. 297, § 6; 2021, ch. 114, § 4; 2026, ch. 11, § 1.
NMSA 1978, § 66-1-4.15 Definitions
66-1-4.15. Definitions
As used in the Motor Vehicle Code:
A. "railroad" means a carrier of persons or property upon cars operated upon stationary rails;
B. "railroad sign or signal" means any sign, signal or device erected by authority of a public body or official or by a railroad and intended to give notice of the presence of railroad tracks or the approach of a railroad train;
C. "railroad train" means a steam engine, electric or other motor, with or without cars coupled thereto, operated upon rails;
D. "REAL ID-compliant driver's license" means a license or a class of license issued by a state or other jurisdiction pertaining to the authorizing of persons to operate motor vehicles and that meets federal requirements to be accepted by federal agencies for official federal purposes;
E. "REAL ID-compliant identification card" means an identification card that meets federal requirements to be accepted by federal agencies for official federal purposes;
F. "reconstructed vehicle" means any vehicle assembled or constructed largely by means of essential parts, new or used, derived from other vehicles or that, if originally otherwise assembled or constructed, has been materially altered by the removal of essential parts, new or used;
G. "recreational travel trailer" means a camping body designed to be drawn by another vehicle;
H. "recreational vehicle" means a vehicle with a camping body that has its own motive power, is affixed to or is drawn by another vehicle and includes motor homes, travel trailers and truck campers;
I. "registration" means registration certificates and registration plates issued under the laws of New Mexico pertaining to the registration of vehicles;
J. "registration number" means the number assigned upon registration by the division to the owner of a vehicle or motor vehicle required to be registered by the Motor Vehicle Code;
K. "registration plate" means the plate, marker, sticker or tag assigned by the division for the identification of the registered vehicle;
L. "relying party" means an entity to which a credential holder is presenting an electronic credential;
M. "residence district" means the territory contiguous to and including a highway not comprising a business district when the property on the highway for a distance of three hundred feet or more is in the main improved with residences or residences and buildings in use for business;
N. "revocation" means that the driver's license and privilege to drive a motor vehicle on the public highways are terminated and shall not be renewed or restored, except that an application for a new license may be presented to and acted upon by the division after the expiration of at least one year after date of revocation;
O. "right of way" means the privilege of the immediate use of the roadway;
P. "road tractor" means every motor vehicle designed and used primarily for drawing other vehicles and constructed not to carry a significant load on the road tractor, either independently or as any part of the weight of a vehicle or load drawn; and
Q. "roadway" means that portion of a street or highway improved, designed or ordinarily used for vehicular travel, exclusive of the berm or shoulder; when a highway includes two or more separate roadways, the term "roadway" refers to each roadway separately but not to all of the roadways collectively.
1978 Comp., § 66-1-4.15, enacted by Laws 1990, ch. 120, § 16; 2001, ch. 127, § 2; 2007, ch. 319, § 8; 2019, ch. 167, § 4; 2024, ch. 13, § 4.
NMSA 1978, § 66-1-4.16 Definitions
66-1-4.16. Definitions
As used in the Motor Vehicle Code:
A. "safety glazing materials" means glazing materials constructed, treated or combined with other materials to reduce substantially, in comparison with ordinary sheet glass or plate glass, the likelihood of injury to persons by objects from exterior sources or by these safety glazing materials when they are cracked and broken;
B. "safety zone" means the area or space that is officially set apart within a highway for the exclusive use of pedestrians and that is protected or is so marked or indicated by adequate signs as to be plainly visible at all times while set apart as a safety zone;
C. "salvage vehicle" means a vehicle:
(1) other than a nonrepairable vehicle, of a type subject to registration that has been wrecked, destroyed or damaged excluding, pursuant to rules issued by the department, hail damage, to the extent that the owner, leasing company, financial institution or the insurance company that insured or is responsible for repair of the vehicle considers it uneconomical to repair the vehicle and that is subsequently not repaired by or for the person who owned the vehicle at the time of the event resulting in damage; or
(2) that was determined to be uneconomical to repair and for which a total loss payment is made by an insurer, whether or not the vehicle is subsequently repaired, if, prior to or upon making payment to the claimant, the insurer obtained the agreement of the claimant to the amount of the total loss settlement and informed the claimant that, pursuant to rules of the department, the title must be branded and submitted to the department for issuance of a salvage certificate of title for the vehicle;
D. "school bus" means a commercial motor vehicle used to transport preprimary, primary or secondary school students from home to school, from school to home or to and from school-sponsored events, but not including a vehicle:
(1) operated by a common carrier, subject to and meeting all requirements of the department of transportation but not used exclusively for the transportation of students;
(2) operated solely by a government-owned transit authority, if the transit authority meets all safety requirements of the department of transportation but is not used exclusively for the transportation of students;
(3) operated as a per capita feeder as provided in Section 22-16-6 NMSA 1978; or
(4) that is a minimum six-passenger, full-size, extended-length, sport utility vehicle operated by a school district employee pursuant to Subsection D of Section 22-16-4 NMSA 1978;
E. "seal" means the official seal of the taxation and revenue department as designated by the secretary;
F. "secretary" means the secretary of taxation and revenue, and, except for the purposes of Sections 66-2-3 and 66-2-12 NMSA 1978, also includes the deputy secretary and any division director delegated by the secretary;
G. "semitrailer" means a vehicle without motive power, other than a pole trailer, designed for carrying persons or property and for being drawn by a motor vehicle and so constructed that some significant part of its weight and that of its load rests upon or is carried by another vehicle;
H. "sidewalk" means a portion of street between the curb lines, or the lateral lines of a roadway, and the adjacent property lines, intended for the use of pedestrians;
I. "slow-moving vehicle" means a vehicle that is ordinarily moved, operated or driven at a speed less than twenty-five miles per hour;
J. "solid tire" means every tire of rubber or other resilient material that does not depend upon compressed air for the support of the load;
K. "special mobile equipment" means a vehicle not designed or used primarily for the transportation of persons or property and incidentally operated or moved over the highways, including but not limited to farm tractors, road construction or maintenance machinery, ditch-digging apparatus, well-boring apparatus and concrete mixers;
L. "specially constructed vehicle" means a vehicle of a type required to be registered under the Motor Vehicle Code not originally constructed under a distinctive name, make, model or type by a generally recognized manufacturer of vehicles and not materially altered from its original construction;
M. "standard driver's license" means a license or a class of license issued by a state or other jurisdiction recognized by the laws of New Mexico that authorizes the holder to operate motor vehicles and is not guaranteed to be accepted by federal agencies for official federal purposes;
N. "standard identification card" means an identification card that is not guaranteed to be accepted by federal agencies for official federal purposes;
O. "state" means a state, territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia or any state of the Republic of Mexico or the Federal District of Mexico or a province of the Dominion of Canada;
P. "state highway" means a public highway that has been designated as a state highway by the legislature, the state transportation commission or the secretary of transportation;
Q. "stop", when required, means complete cessation from movement;
R. "stop, stopping or standing", when prohibited, means any stopping or standing of a vehicle, whether occupied or not, except when necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic or in compliance with the directions of a police officer or traffic-control sign or signal;
S. "street" or "highway" means a way or place generally open to the use of the public as a matter of right for the purpose of vehicular travel, even though it may be temporarily closed or restricted for the purpose of construction, maintenance, repair or reconstruction;
T. "subsequent offender" means a person who was previously a first offender and who again, under state law, federal law or a municipal ordinance or a tribal law, has been adjudicated guilty of the charge of driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug that rendered the person incapable of safely driving a motor vehicle, regardless of whether the person's sentence was suspended or deferred; and
U. "suspension" means that a person's driver's license and privilege to drive a motor vehicle on the public highways are temporarily withdrawn.
1978 Comp., § 66-1-4.16, enacted by Laws 1990, ch. 120, § 17; 1991, ch. 160, § 4; 2003, ch. 142, § 7; 2003, ch. 164, § 2; 2004, ch. 59, § 3; 2005, ch. 324, § 4; 2007, ch. 321, § 2; 2017, ch. 94, § 2; 2019, ch. 167, § 5; 2023, ch. 100, § 75.
NMSA 1978, § 66-1-4.17 Definitions
66-1-4.17. Definitions
As used in the Motor Vehicle Code:
A. "tank vehicle" means a motor vehicle that is designed to transport any liquid or gaseous material within a tank that is either permanently or temporarily attached to the vehicle or the chassis and that has either a gross vehicle weight rating of twenty-six thousand one or more pounds or is used in the transportation of hazardous materials requiring placarding of the vehicle under applicable law;
B. "taxicab" means a motor vehicle used for hire in the transportation of persons, having a normal seating capacity of not more than seven persons;
C. "temporary off-site location" means a location other than a dealer's established or additional place of business that is used exclusively for the display of vehicles or vessels for sale or resale and for related business;
D. "through highway" means every highway or portion of a highway at the entrance to which vehicular traffic from intersecting highways is required by law to stop before entering or crossing it when stop signs are erected as provided in the Motor Vehicle Code;
E. "title service company" means a person, other than the department, an agent of the department, a licensed dealer or the motor transportation division of the department of public safety, who for consideration issues temporary registration plates or prepares and submits to the department on behalf of others applications for registration of or title to motor vehicles;
F. "traffic" means pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles and other conveyances either singly or together using any highway for purposes of travel;
G. "traffic-control signal" means any device, whether manually, electrically or mechanically operated, by which traffic is alternately directed to stop and to proceed;
H. "traffic safety bureau" means the traffic safety bureau of the department of transportation;
I. "trailer" means any vehicle without motive power, designed for carrying persons or property and for being drawn by a motor vehicle, and so constructed that no significant part of its weight rests upon the towing vehicle;
J. "transaction" means all operations necessary at one time with respect to one identification card, one driver, one vessel or one vehicle;
K. "transportation inspector" means an employee of the motor transportation division of the department of public safety who has been certified by the director of the division to enter upon and perform inspections of motor carriers' vehicles in operation;
L. "transporter of manufactured homes" means a commercial motor vehicle operation engaged in the business of transporting manufactured homes from the manufacturer's location to the first dealer's location. A "transporter of manufactured homes" may or may not be associated with or affiliated with a particular manufacturer or dealer;
M. "travel trailer" means a trailer with a camping body and includes recreational travel trailers and camping trailers;
N. "trial court" means the magistrate, municipal or district court that tries the case concerning an alleged violation of a provision of the Motor Vehicle Code;
O. "tribal court" means a court created by a tribe or a court of Indian offense created by the United States secretary of the interior;
P. "tribe" means an Indian nation, tribe or pueblo located wholly or partially in New Mexico;
Q. "truck" means every motor vehicle designed, used or maintained primarily for the transportation of property;
R. "truck camper" means a camping body designed to be loaded onto, or affixed to, the bed or chassis of a truck. A camping body, when combined with a truck or truck cab and chassis, even though not attached permanently, becomes a part of the motor vehicle, and together they are a recreational unit to be known as a "truck camper"; there are three general types of truck campers:
(1) "slide-in camper" means a camping body designed to be loaded onto and unloaded from the bed of a pickup truck;
(2) "chassis-mount camper" means a camping body designed to be affixed to a truck cab and chassis; and
(3) "pickup cover" or "camper shell" means a camping body designed to provide an all-weather protective enclosure over the bed of a pickup truck and to be affixed to the pickup truck; and
S. "truck tractor" means every motor vehicle designed and used primarily for drawing other vehicles and constructed to carry a part of the weight of the vehicle and load drawn.
1978 Comp., § 66-1-4.17, enacted by Laws 1990, ch. 120, § 18; 1998, ch. 48, § 2; 1999, ch. 122, § 1; 2001, ch. 127, § 3; 2003, ch. 141, § 1; 2003, ch. 164, § 3; 2007, ch. 319, § 9.
NMSA 1978, § 66-1-4.18 Definitions
66-1-4.18. Definitions
As used in the Motor Vehicle Code:
A. "unclaimed vehicle or motor vehicle" means a vehicle or motor vehicle that has been placed in an impound lot by a law enforcement agency or removed to any storage lot by a property owner, and to which no owner or lienholder of record has asserted a valid claim; and
B. "utility trailer" means any trailer, semitrailer or pole trailer, but does not include freight trailers, manufactured homes, trailers of less than one-ton carrying capacity used to transport animals or fertilizer trailers of less than three thousand five hundred pounds empty weight.
1978 Comp., § 66-1-4.18, enacted by Laws 1990, ch. 120, § 19.
NMSA 1978, § 66-1-4.19 Definitions
66-1-4.19. Definitions
As used in the Motor Vehicle Code:
A. "validating sticker" means the tab or sticker issued by the division to signify, upon a registration plate, renewed registration;
B. "vehicle" means every device in, upon or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, including any frame, chassis, body or unitized frame and body of any vehicle or motor vehicle, except devices moved exclusively by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks;
C. "vehicle-business number" means the distinctive registration number given by the division to any manufacturer, auto recycler or dealer;
D. "vehicle plate" means a plate, marker, sticker or tag similar to a registration plate, but that is issued by the department for vehicles that are exempted from registration under the Motor Vehicle Code; and
E. "verification process" means a method of authenticating an electronic credential through the use of secure and encrypted communication.
1978 Comp., § 66-1-4.19, enacted by Laws 1990, ch. 120, § 20; 2005, ch. 324, § 5; 2017, ch. 70, § 1; 2024, ch. 13, § 5.
NMSA 1978, § 66-1-4.20 Definitions
66-1-4.20. Definitions
As used in the Motor Vehicle Code:
A. "wholesaler" means any person, except a person making a casual sale of the person's own vehicle, who sells or offers for sale vehicles of a type subject to registration in this state, to a vehicle dealer who is licensed under the Motor Vehicle Code or who is franchised by a manufacturer, distributor or vehicle dealer; provided, however, that if any person except a person making a casual sale of the person's own vehicle also sells a vehicle at retail, that person shall be deemed to be a dealer and is subject to the dealer-licensing provisions of the Motor Vehicle Code; and
B. "written clearance from a law enforcement agency" means any written statement signed by a full-time, salaried law enforcement officer stating that a check has been made of the law enforcement agency's records and the computerized records of the national crime information center and that the check of records indicates that the vehicle or motor vehicle in question has not been reported stolen.
1978 Comp., § 66-1-4.20, enacted by Laws 1990, ch. 120, § 21; 2005, ch. 324, § 6.
NMSA 1978, § 66-1-4.21 Additional definitions
66-1-4.21. Additional definitions
As used in the Motor Vehicle Code:
A. "evidence of registration" means any documentation issued by the department identifying a motor carrier vehicle as being registered with New Mexico or documentation issued by another state pursuant to the terms of a multistate agreement on registration of vehicles to which this state is a party identifying a motor carrier vehicle as being registered with that state; provided that evidence of payment of the weight distance tax and permits obtained under either the Special Fuels Supplier Tax Act [Chapter 7, Article 16A NMSA 1978] or Trip Tax Act [Chapter 7, Article 15 NMSA 1978] are not "evidence of registration";
B. "fleet" means one or more motor carrier vehicles, either commercial or noncommercial but not mixed, that are operated in this and at least one other jurisdiction;
C. "motor carrier" means any person or firm that owns, controls, operates or manages any motor vehicle with gross vehicle weight of twelve thousand pounds or more that is used to transport persons or property on the public highways of this state;
D. "one-way rental fleet" means two or more vehicles each having a gross vehicle weight of under twenty-six thousand one pounds and rented to the public without a driver;
E. "preceding year" means a period of twelve consecutive months fixed by the department, which period is within the sixteen months immediately preceding the commencement of the registration or license year for which proportional registration is sought. The department, in fixing that period, shall make it conform to the terms, conditions and requirements of any applicable agreement or arrangement for the proportional registration of vehicles;
F. "properly registered" means bearing the lawfully issued and currently valid evidence of registration of this or another jurisdiction, regardless of the owner's residence, except in those cases where the evidence has been procured by misrepresentation or fraud; and
G. "public highway" means every way or place generally open to the use of the public as a matter of right for the purpose of vehicular travel, even though it may be temporarily closed or restricted for the purpose of construction, maintenance, repair or reconstruction.
1978 Comp., § 66-1-4.21, enacted by Laws 1998 (1st S.S.), ch. 10, § 9.
NMSA 1978, § 66-1-5 Measurements
66-1-5. Measurements
Whenever any provision of the Motor Vehicle Code or regulations promulgated thereunder refers to weight, height, length, width or speed in English units of measurement, it also refers to the metric equivalent of those units or, when adopted, to the metric substitutes for those units adopted by the state highway and transportation department.
1978 Comp., § 66-1-5, enacted by Laws 1995, ch. 135, § 2; 1996, ch. 81, § 1.
Source: New Mexico Compilation Commission (nmonesource.com)URL: https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa-unanno/en/item/18569/index.doFetched: 10/20/2026