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HOUSE BILL 160
57
TH LEGISLATURE
-
STATE
OF
NEW
MEXICO
-
FIRST SESSION
,
2025
INTRODUCED BY
Patricia A. Lundstrom and D. Wonda Johnson and Tara L. Lujan
and Raymundo Lara and Art De La Cruz
AN ACT
RELATING TO TRAFFIC LAWS; AMENDING A DEFINITION IN THE MOTOR
VEHICLE CODE; REQUIRING DRIVERS TO STOP, LOOK AND LISTEN FOR
OTHER ON-TRACK EQUIPMENT IN ADDITION TO TRAINS.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. Section 66-1-4.13 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1990,
Chapter 120, Section 14, as amended) is amended to read:
"66-1-4.13. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Motor Vehicle
Code:
A. "odometer" means a device for recording the
total mileage traveled by a vehicle from the vehicle's
manufacture and for so long as the vehicle is operable on the
highways;
B. "off-highway motor vehicle" means any motor
vehicle operated or used exclusively off the highways of this
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state and that is not legally equipped for operation on the
highways of this state, but does not include an electric-
assisted bicycle;
C. "official printout" means any record supplied by
the division or a similar agency or government entity that
indicates the lienholders of record or owners of record of a
vehicle or motor vehicle registered within that government's
jurisdiction or indicates information about a driver's license
or identification card, including traffic violation history or
status;
D. "official traffic-control devices" means all
signs, signals, markings and devices consistent with the Motor
Vehicle Code placed or erected, by authority of a public body
or official having jurisdiction, for the purpose of regulating,
warning or guiding traffic;
E. "operational design domain" means the specific
conditions under which a given automated driving system or
feature of the system is designed to function;
F. "operator" means driver, as defined in Section
66-1-4.4 NMSA 1978; [and ]
G. "other on-track equipment" means any car,
rolling stock or other device that alone or coupled to another
device is operated on stationary rails; and
[G.] H. "owner" means a person who holds the legal
title of a vehicle and may include a conservator, guardian,
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personal representative, executor or similar fiduciary, or, in
the event that a vehicle is the subject of an agreement for
conditional sale or lease with the right of purchase upon
performance of the conditions stated in the agreement and with
an immediate right of possession vested in the conditional
vendee or lessee, or, in the event that a mortgagor of a
vehicle is entitled to possession, then such conditional vendee
or lessee or mortgagor."
SECTION 2. Section 66-7-341 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2003,
Chapter 51, Section 8) is amended to read:
"66-7-341. RAILROAD-HIGHWAY GRADE CROSSING VIOLATIONS--
ALL DRIVERS.--
A. A person driving a vehicle approaching a
railroad-highway grade crossing shall:
(1) obey traffic control devices, crossing
gates or barriers or the directions of an enforcement official
at the crossing;
(2) stop not more than fifty feet and not less
than fifteen feet from the nearest rail of a crossing if:
(a) a train or other on-track equipment
is moving through or blocking the crossing;
(b) a train or other on-track equipment
is plainly visible and approaching the crossing within
hazardous proximity to the crossing;
(c) the sound of a train's or other on-
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track equipment's warning signal can be heard; or
(d) a traffic control device, crossing
gate, barrier or light or an enforcement official signals the
driver to stop; and
(3) proceed through the railroad-highway grade
crossing only if it is safe to completely pass through the
entire railroad-highway grade crossing without stopping.
B. A person shall not:
(1) drive a vehicle through, around or under a
crossing gate or barrier at a railroad-highway grade crossing
while the gate or barrier is closed or being opened or closed;
(2) drive onto the railroad-highway grade
crossing and stop; or
(3) enter a crossing if the vehicle being
driven has insufficient undercarriage clearance to pass over
the crossing.
C. The penalty assessment for violation of this
section is included in Section 66-8-116 NMSA 1978."
SECTION 3. Section 66-7-343 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2003,
Chapter 51, Section 9) is amended to read:
"66-7-343. RAILROAD-HIGHWAY GRADE CROSSING VIOLATIONS--
CERTAIN VEHICLES REQUIRED TO ALWAYS STOP--EXCEPTIONS.--
A. Except as set forth in Subsection D of this
section, a driver of a vehicle carrying passengers for hire, a
school bus carrying school children or a vehicle carrying
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hazardous materials, radioactive or explosive substances or
flammable liquids as cargo or as part of its cargo, before
entering a railroad-highway grade crossing, is required to stop
no more than fifty feet and no less than fifteen feet from the
nearest rail of the railroad.
B. While stopped, the driver shall:
(1) look and listen in both directions along
the track for an approaching train or other on-track equipment
and for signals indicating that a train or other on-track
equipment is approaching;
(2) determine it is safe to proceed completely
through the railroad-highway grade crossing before entering it;
and
(3) set the vehicle in a gear sufficiently low
that gears will not need to be shifted before exiting the
railroad-highway grade crossing.
C. A driver shall not shift gears while in a
railroad-highway grade crossing.
D. A driver of a vehicle carrying passengers for
hire, a school bus carrying school children or a vehicle
carrying hazardous materials, radioactive or explosive
substances or flammable liquids as cargo or as part of its
cargo is not required to stop at:
(1) a railroad-highway grade crossing where a
police officer directs traffic to proceed;
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(2) a railroad-highway grade crossing where a
stop-and-go traffic light controls movement of traffic;
(3) a railroad-highway grade crossing used
exclusively for industrial switching purposes, within a
business district as defined in Section 66-1-4.2 NMSA 1978;
(4) a railroad-highway grade crossing where
use of the railroad has been abandoned and there is a sign
indicating that the railroad has been abandoned; or
(5) an industrial or spur line railroad-
highway grade crossing marked with a sign reading "exempt
crossing" that has been designated as exempt by appropriate
state or local authorities.
E. Penalties for violation of this section are
included in Section 66-8-116 NMSA 1978."
SECTION 4. Section 66-7-344 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1978,
Chapter 35, Section 448) is amended to read:
"66-7-344. MOVING HEAVY EQUIPMENT AT RAILROAD GRADE
CROSSINGS.--
A. No person shall operate or move any crawler-type
tractor, steam shovel, derrick, roller or any equipment or
structure having a normal operating speed of ten or less miles
per hour or a vertical body or load clearance of less than one-
half inch per foot of the distance between any two adjacent
axles or in any event of less than nine inches, measured above
the level surface of a roadway, upon or across any tracks at a
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railroad grade crossing without first complying with this
section.
B. Notice of any such intended crossing shall be
given to a station agent of [such ] the railroad and a
reasonable time [be] given to [such] the railroad to provide
proper protection at [such ] the crossing.
C. Before making any such crossing, the person
operating or moving any such vehicle or equipment shall first
stop the [same] vehicle or equipment not less than fifteen feet
nor more than fifty feet from the nearest rail of [such ] the
railroad and, while so stopped, shall listen and look in both
directions along [such ] the track for any approaching train or
other on-track equipment and for signals indicating the
approach of a train or other on-track equipment and shall not
proceed until the crossing can be made safely.
D. No such crossing shall be made when warning is
given by automatic signal or crossing gates or a [flagman ]
flagperson or otherwise of the immediate approach of a railroad
train, [or] car or other on-track equipment . If a [flagman]
flagperson is provided by the railroad, movement over the
crossing shall be under [his ] the flagperson's direction.
E. This section [shall ] does not apply to the
normal movement of farm equipment in the regular course of farm
operation."
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