HOUSE BILL 176
49th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2010
INTRODUCED BY
Jeff Steinborn
AN ACT
RELATING TO ACCESSIBLE PARKING FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES; AMENDING A SECTION OF THE NMSA 1978 TO PROVIDE FOR TRAINING OF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS REGARDING DISABLED-ACCESSIBLE PARKING; AMENDING SECTIONS OF THE MOTOR VEHICLE CODE TO PROVIDE FOR SHORTER PLACARD- AND PLATE-RENEWAL PERIODS AND MORE EXPLICIT MARKING OF ACCESSIBLE PARKING SPOTS; AMENDING SECTIONS OF THE ACCESSIBLE PARKING STANDARDS AND ENFORCEMENT ACT TO PROVIDE FOR GREATER ENFORCEMENT AND MORE EXPLICIT MARKING OF ACCESSIBLE PARKING SPOTS.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
Section 1. Section 28-10-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1973, Chapter 349, Section 2, as amended) is amended to read:
"28-10-2. GOVERNOR'S COMMISSION ON DISABILITY--POWERS AND DUTIES.--The governor's commission on disability shall establish and maintain a comprehensive statewide program designed to encourage and promote attention to the concerns of the training and employment of individuals with disabilities in this state. To further this purpose, the commission shall:
A. cooperate with the president's committee on employment of individuals with disabilities and other federal efforts on behalf of disability concerns;
B. cooperate with all employers and training leaders, both public and private, in locating or developing employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities;
C. encourage and assist in the organization and operation of committees at the community level, the [chairmen] chairs of which shall automatically become members of the advisory council authorized under Section 28-10-4 NMSA 1978;
D. assist state, local and federal agencies to coordinate their activities to secure maximum utilization of funds and efforts that aid in the training and employment of individuals with disabilities;
E. enter into written agreements with public and private employers, unions and rehabilitation agencies for the purpose of achieving the maximum employment of individuals with disabilities;
F. inform individuals with disabilities who are seeking jobs of specific facilities available to assist them in locating suitable training and employment;
G. conduct educational programs via publications and other means to acquaint the public, the legislature and the governor with the abilities and the accomplishments of individuals with disabilities;
H. promote the elimination of architectural barriers in construction so as to make buildings used by the public readily accessible to and usable by persons with physical limitations;
I. make such rules as it determines advisable for the conduct of its own business;
J. designate standing committees related to state planning, community organization, public relations and information, legislative action, federal coordination, state coordination, youth, medical rehabilitation, employers and awards;
K. designate such special committees as necessary for undetermined periods to carry out special short-term programs;
L. establish and administer a residential accessibility modification program to assist low-income individuals with disabilities to make accessibility modifications to residential dwellings as needed to enable those individuals with disabilities to remain in their homes or to leave institutional settings and be reintegrated into the community; [and]
M. give advice and testimony on disability concerns to the governor or the legislature or any committee established by them, upon request; and
N. provide training to state and local law enforcement officers regarding matters pertaining to accessible parking for persons with disabilities."
Section 2. Section 66-1-4.1 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1990,
Chapter 120, Section 2, as amended) 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 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 with blue striping and 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 parking space 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, 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; and
G. "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."
Section 3. Section 66-3-16 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1978, Chapter 35, Section 36, as amended) is amended to read:
"66-3-16. DISTINCTIVE REGISTRATION PLATES--PERSONS WITH SIGNIFICANT MOBILITY LIMITATION--PARKING PLACARD.--
A. The division shall issue distinctive registration plates for use on motor vehicles and motorcycles owned by a person with a significant mobility limitation who requests a distinctive registration plate and who proves satisfactorily to the division that the person meets the standard provided in Subsection [I] J of this section. No fee in addition to the regular registration fee, if any, applicable to the motor vehicle or motorcycle shall be collected for issuance of distinctive registration plates pursuant to this section.
B. No person shall falsely claim to have a significant mobility limitation so as to be eligible to be issued a distinctive registration plate or a parking placard pursuant to this section when the person does not in fact have a significant mobility limitation. Upon notice and opportunity to be heard, the division 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 accompanied by a medical statement by a licensed physician attesting to the permanent significant mobility limitation, a resident of the state who has a significant mobility limitation, as provided in this section, may apply for and be issued no more than two parking placards for display upon a motor vehicle registered to the person or motor vehicle owned by another person who is transporting the person with a significant mobility limitation. The physician shall provide the division all information and records necessary to issue a permanent parking placard. Once approved for use of a permanent parking placard, a person with a significant mobility limitation shall not be required to furnish further medical information.
D. A parking placard issued pursuant to this section shall expire [on the same date the person's license or identification card issued pursuant to Section 66-5-401 NMSA 1978 expires] four years from the date it was issued.
E. The division shall issue two-sided hanger-style parking placards with the following characteristics:
(1) a picture of the international symbol of access;
(2) a hologram to make duplication difficult;
(3) an imprinted expiration date; and
(4) a full-face photograph of the holder on the inside of the placard covered by a flap.
F. The division shall consult with the governor's commission on disability for continued issuance and format of the placard.
G. The division may issue an identification card containing a full-face photograph of the holder of the registration plate or parking placard and the number of the registration plate or parking placard issued to that person.
H. Upon written application to the division accompanied by a medical statement from a licensed physician attesting to a temporary significant mobility limitation, a person may be issued a temporary placard for no more than one year. The physician shall provide the division all information and records necessary to issue a temporary placard.
I. Registration plates or parking placards issued to a person with a significant mobility limitation by another state or foreign jurisdiction shall be honored until the motor vehicle or motorcycle is registered or the parking placard holder establishes residency in this state.
J. A person with a significant mobility limitation means a person who:
(1) cannot walk one hundred feet without stopping to rest;
(2) cannot walk without the use of a brace, cane or crutch or without assistance from another person, a prosthetic device, a wheelchair or other 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 the ability to walk due to an arthritic, neurologic or orthopedic condition that the person cannot ascend or descend more than ten stair steps."
Section 4. Section 66-7-352.4 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1983, Chapter 45, Section 4, as amended) is amended to read:
"66-7-352.4. PARKING LOTS--STANDARDS.--
A. Every parking lot coming under the provisions of the Accessible Parking Standards and Enforcement Act shall have designated accessible parking spaces for persons with significant mobility limitation as provided in Subsection B of this section. No building permit shall be issued by any local government for the construction or substantial renovation of a commercial building inviting public access unless the parking lot has designated accessible parking spaces for persons with significant mobility limitation as delineated in Subsection B of this section.
B. The minimum numbers of designated accessible parking spaces for persons with significant mobility limitation are as follows:
TOTAL PARKING SPACES IN LOT REQUIRED MINIMUM NUMBER OF PARKING SPACES FOR PERSONS WITH SIGNIFICANT MOBILITY LIMITATION
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 1 for
each 100 over 1,000.
The designated accessible parking spaces for persons with significant mobility limitation shall be located so as to provide the most convenient access to entranceways or to the nearest curb cut. Every parking lot shall have at least one designated accessible parking space for persons with significant mobility limitation designed to accommodate a motor vehicle passenger van, and there shall be a minimum of one such space for every eight designated accessible parking spaces for persons with significant mobility limitation.
C. A sign or other designation posted after July 1, 2010 at an accessible parking space pursuant to this section shall include the language "Violators are subject to a fine and/or towing."."
Section 5. 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--PENALTIES.--
A. It is unlawful for any person to park a motor vehicle not displaying a special registration plate or a parking placard issued pursuant to Section 66-3-16 NMSA 1978 in a designated accessible parking space for persons with significant mobility limitation.
B. It is unlawful for any person to park a motor vehicle in such a manner so as to block access to any part of a curb cut designed for access by persons with significant mobility limitation.
C. A person convicted of violating Subsection A or B of this section is subject to a fine of not less than two hundred fifty dollars ($250) or more than five hundred dollars ($500). Failure to properly display a parking placard or special registration plate issued pursuant to Section 66-3-16 NMSA 1978 is not a defense against a charge of violation of Subsection A or B of this section.
D. A vehicle parked in violation of Subsection A or B of this section is subject to being towed at the expense of the vehicle owner upon authorization by law enforcement personnel or by the property owner or manager of a parking lot.
E. A law enforcement officer shall issue a citation or authorize towing of a vehicle for a violation of Subsection A or B of this section regardless of the presence of the driver."
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