HOUSE BILL 862
47th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2006
INTRODUCED BY
Daniel P. Silva
AN ACT
RELATING TO COMMERCIAL DRIVER'S LICENSES; PROVIDING FOR COMPLIANCE WITH FEDERAL REGULATIONS REGARDING CONVICTION FOR VIOLATION OF TRAFFIC LAWS; REQUIRING DOMICILE IN NEW MEXICO TO RECEIVE A COMMERCIAL DRIVER'S LICENSE; AMENDING AND ENACTING SECTIONS OF THE NEW MEXICO COMMERCIAL DRIVER'S LICENSE ACT.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
Section 1. A new section of the New Mexico Commercial Driver's License Act is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] VIOLATION CONVICTIONS--IMPROPER TO MASK, DEFER OR DIVERT.--No person shall mask or defer imposition of judgment of a conviction of a traffic control law violation, except a parking violation, committed by a holder of a commercial driver's license or allow a holder of a commercial driver's license to enter a diversion program upon conviction of a traffic control law violation, except a parking violation, that would prevent a commercial driver's license holder's conviction, in any motor vehicle, from appearing on the licensee's driving record, regardless of the state in which the conviction occurred."
Section 2. Section 66-5-54 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1989, Chapter 14, Section 3, as amended) is amended to read:
"66-5-54. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the New Mexico Commercial Driver's License Act:
A. "commerce" means:
(1) trade, traffic or transportation within the jurisdiction of the United States between a place in New Mexico and a place outside of New Mexico, including a place outside of the United States; and
(2) trade, traffic or transportation in the United States that affects any trade, traffic or transportation described in Paragraph (1) of this subsection;
B. "commercial driver's license information system" means the information system created pursuant to the federal Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986 that contains information pertaining to operators of commercial motor vehicles;
C. "commercial motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle or combination of motor vehicles used in commerce to transport passengers or property if the motor vehicle:
(1) has a gross combination weight rating of more than twenty-six thousand pounds inclusive of a towed unit with a gross vehicle weight rating of more than ten thousand pounds;
(2) has a gross vehicle weight rating of more than twenty-six thousand pounds;
(3) is designed to transport sixteen or more passengers, including the driver; or
(4) is of any size and is used in the transportation of hazardous materials, which requires the motor vehicle to be placarded under applicable law;
D. "director" means the director of the motor vehicle division of the department;
E. "disqualification" means:
(1) a suspension, revocation or cancellation of a commercial driver's license by the state or jurisdiction that issued the commercial driver's license;
(2) a withdrawal of a person's privileges to drive a commercial motor vehicle by a state or other jurisdiction as the result of a violation of state or local law relating to motor vehicle control other than a parking, vehicle weight or vehicle defect violation; and
(3) a determination by the federal motor carrier safety administration that a person is not qualified to operate a motor vehicle;
F. "division" means the motor vehicle division of the department;
G. "driving a commercial motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol" means:
(1) driving a commercial motor vehicle while the driver has an alcohol concentration in the driver's blood or breath of four one hundredths or more;
(2) driving a commercial motor vehicle while the driver is under the influence of intoxicating liquor; or
(3) refusal to submit to chemical tests administered pursuant to Section 66-8-107 NMSA 1978;
H. "employee" means an operator of a commercial motor vehicle, including full-time, regularly employed drivers; casual, intermittent or occasional drivers; leased drivers; and independent owner-operator contractors, while in the course of operating a commercial motor vehicle, who is either directly employed by or under lease to an employer;
I. "employer" means a person, including the United States, a state and a political subdivision of a state or their agencies or instrumentalities, that owns or leases a commercial motor vehicle or assigns employees to operate such a vehicle;
J. "fatality" means the death of a person as a result of a motor vehicle accident;
K. "gross combination weight rating" means the value specified by the manufacturer as the loaded weight of a combination vehicle. In the absence of a value specified by the manufacturer, 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 any load thereon;
L. "gross vehicle weight rating" means the value specified by the manufacturer as the loaded weight of a single vehicle;
M. "imminent hazard" means a condition that presents a substantial likelihood that death, serious illness, severe personal injury or a substantial endangerment to health, property or the environment will occur before the reasonable foreseeable completion date of a formal proceeding to lessen the risk of that death, illness, injury or endangerment;
N. "noncommercial motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle or combination of motor vehicles that is not a commercial motor vehicle;
O. "nonresident 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;
P. "out-of-service order" means a declaration by an authorized enforcement officer of a federal, state, Canadian, Mexican or local jurisdiction that a driver, a commercial motor vehicle or a motor carrier operation is temporarily prohibited from operating;
Q. "railroad-highway grade crossing violation" means a violation of a provision of Section 66-7-341 or 66-7-343 NMSA 1978 or a violation of federal or local law or rule pertaining to stopping at or crossing a railroad-highway grade crossing; [and]
R. "serious traffic violation" means conviction of any of the following if committed when operating a motor vehicle:
(1) speed of fifteen miles or more per hour above the posted limits;
(2) reckless driving as defined by Section 66-8-113 NMSA 1978 or a municipal ordinance or the law of another state;
(3) homicide by vehicle, as defined in Section 66-8-101 NMSA 1978;
(4) injury to pregnant woman by vehicle as defined in Section 66-8-101.1 NMSA 1978 or a municipal ordinance or the law of another state;
(5) any other violation of law relating to motor vehicle traffic control, other than a parking violation, that the secretary determines by regulation to be a serious traffic violation. "Serious traffic violation" does not include a vehicle weight or vehicle defect violation;
(6) improper or erratic lane changes in violation of Section 66-7-317 NMSA 1978;
(7) following another vehicle too closely in violation of Section 66-7-318 NMSA 1978;
(8) directly or indirectly causing death or great bodily injury to a human being in the unlawful operation of a motor vehicle in violation of Section 66-8-101 NMSA 1978;
(9) driving a commercial motor vehicle without possession of a commercial driver's license in violation of Section 66-5-59 NMSA 1978;
(10) driving a commercial motor vehicle without the proper class of commercial driver's license and endorsements pursuant to Section 66-5-65 NMSA 1978 and the Motor Carrier Safety Act for the specific vehicle group operated or for the passengers or type of cargo transported; or
(11) driving a commercial motor vehicle without obtaining a commercial driver's license in violation of Section 66-5-59 NMSA 1978; and
S. "state of domicile" means that state where a person has a true, fixed and permanent home and principal residence and to which the person has the intention of returning whenever the person has been absent from that state."
Section 3. Section 66-5-60 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1989, Chapter 14, Section 9, as amended) is amended to read:
"66-5-60. COMMERCIAL DRIVER'S LICENSE--QUALIFICATIONS--STANDARDS.--
A. The division shall not issue a commercial driver's license to a person unless that person [is a resident of New Mexico] can establish that New Mexico is the state of domicile and has passed a knowledge and skills test for driving a commercial motor vehicle and for related endorsements, has passed a medical fitness test and has satisfied any other requirements of the New Mexico Commercial Driver's License Act.
B. The division may authorize a person, including an agency of this or another state, an employer, a private driver-training facility or other private institution or a department, agency or instrumentality of local government to administer the skills test specified by this section.
C. The director may waive the requirement of any test specified in this section for a commercial driver's license applicant who complies with the other provisions of the New Mexico Commercial Driver's License Act through any pertinent rules, regulations or contractual agreements with the public education department, other governments or private entities.
D. A commercial driver's license applicant shall not take a test specified in this section more than three times within one year.
E. If the department determines that a commercial driver's license applicant has committed an offense in taking a test specified in this section, the division shall not issue a commercial driver's license to that applicant within one year of the department's determination."
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