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

RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLES; CHANGING THE PROVISIONS OF LAW PERTAINING TO ABANDONED VEHICLES.

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

Section 1. 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:

(1) has been determined by a New Mexico law enforcement agency:

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

[(2)] (b) not to have been reported stolen;

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

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

(2) has been deemed abandoned pursuant to Section 66-7-350 NMSA 1978;

B. "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. "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. "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 2. Section 66-7-350 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1978, Chapter 35, Section 454) is amended to read:

"66-7-350. OFFICERS AUTHORIZED TO REMOVE ILLEGALLY STOPPED VEHICLES.--

A. Whenever any police officer finds a vehicle standing upon a highway in violation of any of the [foregoing] provisions of Sections [64-7-349 through 64-7-352 NMSA 1953 such] 66-7-349 through 66-7-352 NMSA 1978, the officer is hereby authorized to move [such] the vehicle or require the driver or other person in charge of the vehicle to move [the same] it to a position off the paved or main-traveled part of [such] the highway.

B. Whenever any police officer finds a vehicle unattended upon any bridge or causeway or in any tunnel where [such] the vehicle constitutes an obstruction to traffic, [such] the officer is hereby authorized to provide for the removal of [such] the vehicle to the nearest garage or other place of safety.

C. No driver of any vehicle shall permit [said] the vehicle to remain unattended on or adjacent to any public road, highway or highway right of way of [the] this state for a longer period than twenty-four hours without notifying the state police or sheriff's office of the county where [said] the vehicle is parked or [said] the vehicle shall be deemed abandoned. The state police or sheriff's officer [may] shall cause all such abandoned vehicles to be removed, and the owner of the vehicle shall be required to pay all costs incident to the removal of [said] the vehicle, provided that wrecked vehicles may be removed at any time and without regard to the twenty-four hour period [hereinbefore] provided in this subsection.

D. Whenever an officer [shall order] orders a dealer or wrecker to remove from a highway or territory adjacent thereto any damaged or abandoned vehicle, the officer shall, at the time, issue signed and dated instructions in writing to the dealer or wrecker specifically stating if the vehicle is to be "held for investigation" or if it may be released to the owner.

E. A person removing an abandoned vehicle pursuant to the direction of the state police or sheriff's office has a towing and storage possessory lien on the vehicle in the amount of the towing charge incurred and the daily charge for storage. If the vehicle is not claimed by the owner and all charges covered by the lien paid within thirty days of the date the vehicle was removed as an abandoned vehicle, the lienholder may foreclose his lien by releasing the vehicle to a person licensed as a wrecker pursuant to Section 66-4-1 NMSA 1978 in return for payment of the charges secured by the lien. The licensed wrecker may then dispose of the vehicle pursuant to Section 66-3-119 NMSA 1978."