As used in the Motor Vehicle Code:

A. "day" means calendar day, unless otherwise provided in the Motor Vehicle Code;

B. "dealer", except as specifically excluded, means any person who sells or solicits or advertises the sale of new or used motor vehicles, manufactured homes or trailers subject to registration in this state; "dealer" does not include:

(1) receivers, trustees, administrators, executors, guardians or other persons appointed by or acting under judgment, decree or order of any court;

(2) public officers while performing their duties as such officers;

(3) persons making casual sales of their own vehicles;

(4) finance companies, banks and other lending institutions making sales of repossessed vehicles; or

(5) licensed brokers under the Manufactured Housing Act who, for a fee, commission or other valuable consideration, engage in brokerage activities related to the sale, exchange or lease purchase of pre-owned manufactured homes on a site installed for a consumer;

C. "declared gross weight" means the maximum gross vehicle weight or gross combination vehicle weight at which a vehicle or combination will be operated during the registration period, as declared by the registrant for registration and fee purposes; the vehicle or combination shall have only one declared gross weight for all operating considerations;

D. "department" means the taxation and revenue department, the secretary of taxation and revenue or any employee of the department exercising authority lawfully delegated to that employee by the secretary;

E. "designated accessible parking space for persons with significant mobility limitation" means any space, including an access aisle, that is marked and reserved for the parking of a passenger vehicle that carries registration plates or a parking placard with the international symbol of access issued in accordance with Section 66-3-16 NMSA 1978 and that is designated by a conspicuously posted sign bearing the international symbol of access and, if the parking space is paved, by a clearly visible depiction of this symbol painted in blue on the pavement of the space;

F. "director" means the secretary;

G. "disqualification" means a prohibition against driving a commercial motor vehicle;

H. "distinguishing number" means the number assigned by the department to a vehicle whose identifying number has been destroyed or obliterated or the number assigned by the department to a vehicle that has never had an identifying number;

I. "distributor" means a person who distributes or sells new or used motor vehicles to dealers and who is not a manufacturer;

J. "division", without further specification, "division of motor vehicles" or "motor vehicle division" means the department;

K. "driveaway-towaway operation" means an operation in which any motor vehicle, new or used, is the item being transported when one set or more of wheels of any such motor vehicle is on the roadway during the course of transportation, whether or not the motor vehicle furnishes the motive power;

L. "driver" means every person who drives or is in actual physical control of a motor vehicle, including a motorcycle, upon a highway, who is exercising control over or steering a vehicle being towed by a motor vehicle or who operates or is in actual physical control of an off-highway motor vehicle; and

M. "driver's license" means any license, permit or driving authorization card issued by a state or other jurisdiction recognized under the laws of New Mexico pertaining to the authorizing of persons to operate motor vehicles and includes a REAL ID-compliant driver's license and a standard driver's license.

History: 1978 Comp., § 66-1-4.4, enacted by Laws 1990, ch. 120, § 5; 1991, ch. 160, § 2; 1999, ch. 297, § 5; 2007, ch. 319, § 3; 2016, ch. 79, § 1; 2019, ch. 167, § 1.

The 2019 amendment, effective October 1, 2019, defined "driveaway-towaway operation", redefined "driver's license", and removed the definitions of certain terms, for purposes of the Motor Vehicle Code; added a new Subsection K and redesignated former Subsection K as Subsection L; deleted former Subsections L through N; and added a new Subsection M.

The 2016 amendment, effective May 18, 2016, amended the definition of "driver's license" and added a definition for "driving authorization card" as used in the Motor Vehicle Code; in Subsection L, after "state or other jurisdiction", deleted "to an individual that authorizes the individual to drive a motor vehicle; and" and added "pertaining to the authorizing of persons to operate motor vehicles and that meets federal requirements to be accepted by federal agencies for official federal purposes"; and added a new Subsection N.

The 2007 amendment, effective June 15, 2007, changed "designated disabled parking space" to "designated accessible parking space for persons with significant mobility limitation" and required that vehicles carry registration plates or a parking placard with an international symbol of access.

The 1999 amendment, effective June 18, 1999, in Subsection E, rewrote the definition of "designated disabled parking space" to include an access aisle, inserted "parking" before "placard", substituted "and designated" for "such a place shall be designated", substituted "wheelchair and if paved" for "wheelchair or", and inserted "in blue".

The 1991 amendment, effective July 1, 1991, substituted "secretary" for "head of the division" in Subsection F; substituted "department" for "division" in two places in Subsection H; and rewrote Subsection J, which read " 'division' ", without further specification, or 'division of motor vehicles', means the motor vehicle division of the department, the director or any employee of the division exercising authority lawfully delegated to that employee by the director."

Driveaway-towaway saddle mount combinations towing over one vehicle illegal. — State highway commission cannot legally issue permits for the movement of trucks in driveaway-towaway saddle mount combinations of more than one towed vehicle. 1959 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 59-38.

Trailer or bus manufacturer. — Any trailer or bus manufacturer who sells three or more trailers or buses directly to individuals or companies in any calendar year is a "dealer" within the meaning of the Motor Vehicle Code and is eligible for a motor vehicle dealer's license. 1979 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 79-31.

Having charge of vehicle controls on highway. — The actual physical handling of the controls is clearly synonymous in meaning to the driving or operating of a motor vehicle and a person may be liable under the law whether the vehicle is in motion on the highways or not depending upon the circumstances. The primary test seems to depend upon whether the vehicle is being driven, operated or handled upon the public highways by an intoxicated person having charge of the controls of the vehicle. 1953 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 53-5858.

Law reviews. — For comment, "Implied Consent in New Mexico," see 10 Nat. Resources J. 378 (1970).