Fiscal impact reports (FIRs) are prepared by the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) for standing finance

committees of the NM Legislature. The LFC does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of these reports

if they are used for other purposes.

Current FIRs (in HTML & Adobe PDF formats) are a vailable on the NM Legislative Website (legis.state.nm.us).

Adobe PDF versions include all attachments, whereas HTML versions may not. Previously issued FIRs and

attachments may be obtained from the LFC in Suite 101 of the State Capitol Building North.

F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Sanchez, M.

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

02/08/2007

HB

SHORT TITLE Statewide Speed Limit of 55 Miles Per Hour

SB 824

ANALYST Moser

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

NFI

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)

FY07

FY08

FY09 3 Year

Total Cost

Recurring or

Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

Total

$374.0

0

$374.0

Non-

Recurring Road Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

NM Department of Transportation (NMDOT)

Department of Public Safety (DPS)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 824 establishes a statewide speed limit of fifty-five miles per hour.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The NMDOT advises that there will be fiscal implications associated with this bill because new

signage will be required to replace signs where the current speed limit exceeds 55 MPH.

NMDOT indicates that there are approximately 2000 miles of interstate (1000 miles for each

direction of travel) and there are two signs for each direction of travel placed at approximately

every 10 miles. This constitutes a total of 400 55 mph speed limit signs that would need to be

Senate Bill 824 – Page

2

manufactured and installed just for the interstate. A breakdown of the cost to manufacture and

install the signs on the interstates (assuming that existing posts can be utilized) is as follows:

Interstate Signs $180,000

Mobilization $7,000

Estimated Interstate total $187,000

In addition, there are numerous other roadways with speed limits greater than 55 mph on at least

some portion of the roadway. The costs would likely be doubled to reduce all other roadways to

55 mph. NMDOT indicates that it will request funds be appropriated to cover this additional

cost if SB 824 passes. Should the bill pass, NMDOT does not expect any effect on federal

appropriations or other local, state and federal

matching funds.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The bill proposes the following item that is a significant for consideration: The bill establishes

fifty-five (55) miles per hour as the maximum allowable posted speed (presently the law

establishes it at seventy-five (75) miles per hour).

DPS indicates that because New Mexico is the fifth largest state in the union, the geographical

distances for travel will have significant impact in reference to time considerations for the

motoring public. When the speed limit was previously 55 mph in this state and across the

country, law enforcement generally raised its tolerance for this violation. Subsequently, when it

changed to the current limit of 75 the tolerance went down and violators were issued citations

closer to the limit.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

The NMDOT advises that it has adopted the nationally accepted practice of establishing posted

speeds based on the 85

th

Percentile Speed. This method is the predominant engineering practice

utilized by all of the DOT’s in the United States. The 85

th

Percentile Speed is defined as the

speed at or below which 85 percent of free-flowing vehicles travel. This measure is obtained

through the conduct of an engineering speed study. In addition to the 85

th

Percentile Speed, the

design of the roadway and any other safety factors are taken into account to establish a speed

limit.

Studies have shown that neither raising nor lowering the speed limit has much effect on vehicle

speeds, and, in fact, percent compliance with the posted speed limit decreases when speed limits

are reduced but aren’t supported by an engineering study. Strict enforcement is the only major

constraint on speeds. Consequently, both DPS and NMDOT stresses that establishing the

maximum speed limit at fifty-five (55) miles per hour on all facilities that have been designed for

a higher safe speed limit will likely introduce a greater degree of non-compliance and disregard

for regulatory signing particularly on the interstate system.

DPS indicates that while reduction in speed could result in reducing the severity of injury in a

crash, the increased amount of time needed to travel across the state may result in more fatigued

drivers and thus a possibility of an increase in accidents due to this element.

Senate Bill 824 – Page

3

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

The proposed bill would have an implication to the resources necessary (personnel and

equipment) to NMDOT and other affected agencies (State and local police) to install signs and

enforce speed limits.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

DPS indicates that if this bill is adopted adjustments in the Penalty Assessment Schedule and

Application to Point System would need to be addressed.

GM/csd