The legislature finds that highway safety is of utmost public concern. The purpose of the Motor Carrier Safety Act is to protect the New Mexico traveling public by ensuring the safe operation of commercial motor carrier vehicles on New Mexico's highways.

History: 1978 Comp., § 65-3-2, enacted by Laws 1989, ch. 201, § 3.

Repeals and reenactments. — Laws 1989, ch. 201, § 3 repealed former 65-3-2 NMSA 1978, as amended by Laws 1973, ch. 255, § 1, relating to maximum hours and rest periods for drivers, and enacted a new section, effective July 1, 1989.

A lessor of trucks is not a motor carrier. — A lessor of trucks is not a motor carrier subject to statutory duties and regulatory duties of inspection, maintenance, and repair under the New Mexico Motor Carrier Safety Act, §§ 65-3-1 to -14 NMSA 1978. Hernandez v. Grando's LLC, 2018-NMCA-072.

Defendant was not subject to the duties of inspection, maintenance, and repair imposed on motor carriers. — Where plaintiff injured himself while exiting a commercial truck that plaintiff's employer had leased from defendant, and where defendant's business was limited to leasing trucks to plaintiff's employer, plaintiff did not establish a disputed question of fact regarding defendant's alleged breach of statutory or regulatory duties of a motor carrier where the evidence established that defendant did not provide transportation of persons, property or household goods for hire or provide transportation for compensation; obligations imposed on motor carriers are not meant to apply to persons who lease vehicles to motor carriers. Hernandez v. Grando's LLC, 2018-NMCA-072.