SENATE BILL 185

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

INTRODUCED BY

Linda M. Lopez

AN ACT

RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLES; AMENDING AND ENACTING SECTIONS OF THE MOTOR VEHICLE CODE TO DEFINE "AUTOCYCLE" AND PROVIDE FOR EXCEPTIONS TO ENDORSEMENT AND HELMET REQUIREMENTS FOR AUTOCYCLE OPERATION.

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] MOTORCYCLE ENDORSEMENT NOT REQUIRED FOR AUTOCYCLE OPERATION.--Autocycles shall be registered as motorcycles and proof of financial responsibility may characterize them as motorcycles, but a driver shall not be required to have a motorcycle endorsement to operate an autocycle."

     SECTION 2. Section 66-1-4.1 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1990, Chapter 120, Section 2, as amended) is amended to read:

     "66-1-4.1. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Motor Vehicle Code:

          A. "abandoned vehicle" means a vehicle or motor vehicle that has been determined by a New Mexico law enforcement agency:

                (1) to have been left unattended on either public or private property for at least thirty days;

                (2) not to have been reported stolen;

                (3) not to have been claimed by any person asserting ownership; and

                (4) not to have been shown by normal

record-checking procedures to be owned by any person;

          B. "access aisle" means a space designed to allow a person with a significant mobility limitation to safely exit and enter a motor vehicle that is immediately adjacent to a designated parking space for persons with significant mobility limitation and that may be common to two such parking spaces of at least sixty inches in width or, if the parking space is designed for van accessibility, ninety-six inches in width, and clearly marked and maintained with blue striping and, after January 1, 2011, the words "NO PARKING" in capital letters, each of which shall be at least one foot high and at least two inches wide, placed at the rear of the access aisle so as to be close to where an adjacent vehicle's rear tires would be placed;

          C. "actual empty weight" means the weight of a vehicle without a load;

          D. "additional place of business", for dealers and auto recyclers, means locations in addition to an established place of business as defined in Section 66-1-4.5 NMSA 1978 and meeting all the requirements of an established place of business, except Paragraph (5) of Subsection C of Section 66-1-4.5 NMSA 1978, but "additional place of business" does not mean a location used solely for storage and that is not used for wrecking, dismantling, sale or resale of vehicles;

          E. "alcoholic beverages" means any and all distilled or rectified spirits, potable alcohol, brandy, whiskey, rum, gin, aromatic bitters or any similar alcoholic beverage, including all blended or fermented beverages, dilutions or mixtures of one or more of the foregoing containing more than one-half percent alcohol but excluding medicinal bitters;

          F. "authorized emergency vehicle" means any fire department vehicle, police vehicle and ambulance and any emergency vehicles of municipal departments or public utilities that are designated or authorized as emergency vehicles by the director of the New Mexico state police division of the department of public safety or local authorities; [and]

          G. "autocycle" means a three-wheeled motorcycle on which the driver and all passengers ride in a completely enclosed, tandem seating area, that is equipped with a roll cage, safety belts for all occupants, airbag protection and antilock brakes and that is designed to be controlled with a steering wheel and pedals; and

          H. "auto recycler" means a person engaged in this state in an established business that includes acquiring vehicles that are required to be registered under the Motor Vehicle Code for the purpose of dismantling, wrecking, shredding, compacting, crushing or otherwise destroying vehicles for reclaimable parts or scrap material to sell."

     SECTION 3. Section 66-1-4.11 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1990, Chapter 120, Section 12, as amended) is amended to read:

     "66-1-4.11. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Motor Vehicle Code:

          A. "mail" means any item properly addressed with postage prepaid delivered by the United States postal service or any other public or private enterprise primarily engaged in the transport and delivery of letters, packages and other parcels;

          B. "manufactured home" means a movable or portable housing structure that exceeds either a width of eight feet or a length of forty feet, constructed to be towed on its own chassis and designed to be installed with or without a permanent foundation for human occupancy;

          C. "manufacturer" means every person engaged in the business of constructing or assembling vehicles of a type required to be registered under the Motor Vehicle Code;

          D. "manufacturer's certificate of origin" means a certification, on a form supplied by or approved by the department, signed by the manufacturer that the new vehicle or boat described in the certificate has been transferred to the New Mexico dealer or distributor named in the certificate or to a dealer duly licensed or recognized as such in another state, territory or possession of the United States and that such transfer is the first transfer of the vehicle or boat in ordinary trade and commerce;

          E. "moped" means a two-wheeled or three-wheeled vehicle with an automatic transmission and a motor having a piston displacement of less than fifty cubic centimeters, that is capable of propelling the vehicle at a maximum speed of not more than thirty miles an hour on level ground, at sea level;

          F. "motorcycle" means every motor vehicle having a seat or saddle for the use of the rider and designed to travel on not more than three wheels in contact with the ground, including autocyles and excluding a tractor;

          G. "motor home" means a camping body built on a self-propelled motor vehicle chassis so designed that seating for driver and passengers is within the body itself;

          H. "motor vehicle" means every vehicle that is self-propelled and every vehicle that is propelled by electric power obtained from batteries or from overhead trolley wires, but not operated upon rails; but for the purposes of the Mandatory Financial Responsibility Act, "motor vehicle" does not include "special mobile equipment"; and

          I. "motor vehicle insurance policy" means a policy of vehicle insurance that covers self-propelled vehicles of a kind required to be registered pursuant to New Mexico law for use on the public streets and highways. A "motor vehicle insurance policy":

(1) shall include:

                     (a) motor vehicle bodily injury and property damage liability coverages in compliance with the Mandatory Financial Responsibility Act; and

                     (b) uninsured motorist coverage, subject to the provisions of Section 66-5-301 NMSA 1978 permitting the insured to reject such coverage; and

                (2) may include:

                     (a) physical damage coverage;

                     (b) medical payments coverage; and

                     (c) other coverages that the insured and the insurer agree to include within the policy."

     SECTION 4. Section 66-7-355 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1978, Chapter 35, Section 459, as amended) is amended to read:

     "66-7-355. RIDING ON MOTORCYCLES.--

          A. A person operating a motorcycle, except for an autocycle, shall ride only upon the permanent and regular seat attached thereto, shall have [his] the person's feet upon the footrests provided on the machine and shall not carry any other person nor shall any other person ride on the motorcycle unless it is designed to carry more than one person. If a motorcycle, except for an autocycle, is designed to carry more than one person, the passenger may ride upon the permanent and regular seat if designed for two persons or upon another seat firmly attached to the rear or side of the motorcycle. The passenger shall have [his] the passenger's feet upon the footrests attached for passenger use.

          B. Any person operating a motorcycle, except for an autocycle, not having a fixed windshield of a type approved by regulation of the secretary shall wear an eye protective device, which may be a faceshield attached to a safety helmet, goggles or safety eyeglasses. All eye protective devices shall be of a type approved by regulations promulgated by the [director] secretary."

     SECTION 5. Section 66-7-356 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1978, Chapter 35, Section 460, as amended) is amended to read:

     "66-7-356. MANDATORY USE OF PROTECTIVE HELMETS.--

          A. No person under the age of eighteen shall operate a motorcycle, except for an autocycle, unless [he] the person is wearing a safety helmet that is securely fastened on [his] the person's head in a normal manner as headgear and [meeting] that meets the standards specified by the [director] secretary. The [director] secretary shall adopt rules and regulations establishing standards covering the types of helmets and the specifications therefor and shall establish and maintain a list of approved helmets meeting the standards and specifications of the [director] secretary. No dealer or person who leases or rents motorcycles, except for an autocycle, shall lease or rent a motorcycle to a person under the age of eighteen unless the lessee or renter shows such person a valid driver's license or permit and possesses the safety equipment required of an operator who is under the age of eighteen. No person shall carry any passenger under the age of eighteen on any motorcycle, except for a autocycle, unless the passenger is wearing a securely fastened safety helmet, as specified in this section, meeting the standards specified by the [director] secretary.

          B. Failure to wear a safety helmet as required in this section shall not constitute contributory negligence."

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