SENATE BILL 125

52nd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2015

INTRODUCED BY

Pat Woods and Dennis J. Roch

AN ACT

RELATING TO HIGHWAY TRANSPORTATION; CHANGING SPEED LIMITS ON COUNTY ROADS; AMENDING A SECTION OF THE NMSA 1978.

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) fifty-five miles per hour on a county road, as defined in Section 66-7-304 NMSA 1978, without a posted speed limit;

                [(3)] (4) seventy-five miles per hour; and

                [(4)] (5) 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 transportation] department of transportation; provided that the posted speed limit shall be determined by an engineering study performed by the [state highway and transportation] department of transportation.

          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 transportation] department of transportation 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 transportation] department of transportation.

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

     SECTION 2. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is January 1, 2016.

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