SENATE BILL 86

47th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2005

INTRODUCED BY

Dede Feldman

AN ACT

RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY; AMENDING THE MOTOR VEHICLE CODE; PROHIBITING THE VIEWING OF TELEVISION OR OTHER VIDEO MONITORS BY DRIVERS OF MOTOR VEHICLES.

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

     Section 1. A new section of the Motor Vehicle Code is enacted to read:

     "[NEW MATERIAL] FRONT SEAT TELEVISIONS AND VIDEO MONITORS PROHIBITED.--

          A. Except as provided in Subsection C, a person shall not operate a motor vehicle on any street or highway in this state while a video receiver, viewer, screen, monitor or source of television or video signal, broadcast or recorded entertainment or business application is visible to the person operating the motor vehicle, whether such device is permanently or temporarily installed.

          B. A retailer shall not install a television or other video receiver, viewer, screen, monitor or source of television or video signal, broadcast or recorded entertainment or business application in a motor vehicle at any point forward of the back of the driver's seat or at any point that would make the device visible to a driver operating the motor vehicle.

          C. This section does not apply to the following equipment when installed in a motor vehicle:

                (1) a vehicle information display;

                (2) a navigation or global positioning display;

                (3) a mapping display;

                (4) a visual display used to monitor the area immediately to the rear or sides of a motor vehicle for the purpose of maneuvering the vehicle; or

                (5) a television or other video receiver, viewer, screen, monitor or source of television or video signal, broadcast or recorded entertainment or business application, if that equipment has a device that, when the motor vehicle is being driven, disables the equipment for all uses except as a visual display as described in Subparagraphs (1) through (4) of this subsection.

          D. This section does not apply to a self-contained motor home that is in excess of twenty-one feet in length or to an authorized emergency vehicle or motor vehicle that provides emergency or roadside assistance.

          E. This section does not prohibit the use of television-type receiving equipment used exclusively for safety or traffic engineering studies or in police, sheriff or emergency vehicles."

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