HOUSE BILL 140

46th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2004

INTRODUCED BY

Patricia A. Lundstrom

AN ACT

RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLES; PROVIDING A HIGHWAY SPEED LIMIT OF SIXTY-FIVE MILES PER HOUR FOR VEHICLES HAVING A GROSS WEIGHT IN EXCESS OF TWENTY-SIX THOUSAND POUNDS.

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

     Section 1. Section 66-7-301 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1978, Chapter 35, Section 405, as amended) is amended to read:

     "66-7-301. SPEED REGULATION.--

          A. No person shall drive a vehicle on a highway at a speed greater than:

                (1) fifteen miles per hour on all highways when passing a school while children are going to or leaving school and when the school zone is properly posted;

                (2) thirty miles per hour in a business or residence district;

                (3) seventy-five miles per hour; and

                (4) the posted speed limit in construction zones posted as double fine zones or other safety zones posted as double fine zones as designated by the [highway and] department of transportation [department], provided that the posted speed limit shall be determined by an engineering study performed by the [state highway and] department of transportation [department].

          B. In every event, speed shall be so controlled by the driver as may be necessary:

                (1) to avoid colliding with a person, vehicle or other conveyance on or entering the highway;

                (2) to comply with legal requirements as may be established by the [state highway and] department of transportation [department] or the New Mexico state police division of the department of public safety and the duty of all persons to use due care; and

                (3) to protect workers in construction zones posted as double fine zones or other safety zones posted as double fine zones as designated by the [highway and] department of transportation [department].

          C. No person shall drive a vehicle having a declared gross weight or gross vehicle weight in excess of twenty-six thousand pounds on a highway at a speed greater than sixty-five miles per hour.

          [C.] D. The speed limits set forth in [Subsection A of] this section may be altered as authorized in Section 66-7-303 NMSA 1978."

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