HOUSE BILL 176

48th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2007

INTRODUCED BY

Nathan P. Cote

AN ACT

RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLES; REQUIRING CERTAIN MOTOR VEHICLES TO BE EQUIPPED WITH MUD GUARD FLAPS; PROVIDING A PENALTY.

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] MOTOR VEHICLES TO BE EQUIPPED WITH MUD GUARD FLAPS--MISDEMEANOR PENALTY.--

          A. On and after July 1, 2007, every new motor vehicle sold by a dealer in New Mexico for operation on its streets and highways that has rear tires larger than a tire with a section width of two hundred sixty-five millimeters, a sidewall aspect ratio of seventy percent of the section width and a wheel diameter rating of seventeen inches shall be equipped with mud guard flaps protecting the rear tires from ejecting material to the rear of the motor vehicle.

          B. The mud guard flaps required in Subsection A of this section shall be:

                (1) wide enough to cover the full tread width of the tires being protected;

                (2) installed as far to the rear of the motor vehicle as practicable and so that they extend from the underside of the motor vehicle body in a vertical plane behind the rear wheels to within eight inches of the ground; and

                (3) constructed of a rigid material or a flexible material that is of a sufficiently rigid character to provide adequate protection when the motor vehicle is in motion.

          C. A dealer who sells a motor vehicle in violation of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) but not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000)."

     Section 2. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 2007.

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