A. Except as provided in Subsection B of this section, the department shall, upon request, consent to the immediate cancellation of any bond or the department shall direct and the state treasurer shall return to the person entitled to it any money deposited pursuant to the Mandatory Financial Responsibility Act as evidence of financial responsibility or the department shall waive the requirement of filing evidence of financial responsibility in any of the following events:

(1) after one year of providing satisfactory evidence as specified in Section 66-5-218 NMSA 1978;

(2) the death of the person on whose behalf evidence was filed or the permanent incapacity of the person to operate a motor vehicle; or

(3) the person who has filed evidence surrenders the person's license and registration to the department.

B. The department shall not consent to the cancellation of any bond or the return of any money or waive the requirement of filing evidence of financial responsibility in the event any action for damages upon a liability covered by the evidence is then pending or any judgment upon any such liability is then unsatisfied or in the event the person who has filed the bond or deposited the money has, within one year immediately preceding the request, been involved as a driver or owner in any motor vehicle accident resulting in injury or damage to the person or property of others. An affidavit of the applicant as to the nonexistence of such facts or that the applicant has been released from all of the applicant's liability or has been finally adjudicated not to be liable for such injury or damage shall be sufficient evidence thereof in the absence of evidence to the contrary in the records of the department.

C. An owner or operator of a vehicle subject to the Mandatory Financial Responsibility Act shall carry evidence of financial responsibility as defined by that act in the vehicle at all times while the vehicle is in operation on the highways of this state.

D. When financial responsibility is satisfied through coverage under a motor vehicle insurance policy, the owner's or operator's carrying of evidence in print or accessible through a portable electronic device is acceptable. An owner or operator of a vehicle who provides evidence of financial responsibility through a portable electronic device:

(1) assumes all liability for any resulting damage to the portable electronic device; and

(2) is presumed not to consent to provide access to a law enforcement officer to any other information stored in the portable electronic device.

E. The failure to comply with Subsection C of this section is a misdemeanor punishable as set forth in Section 66-8-7 NMSA 1978 unless the person charged with violating that subsection produces in court evidence of financial responsibility valid at the time of issuance of the citation.

History: 1953 Comp., § 64-5-242, enacted by Laws 1978, ch. 35, § 318; 1978 Comp., § 66-5-242, recompiled as 1978 Comp., § 66-5-229 by Laws 1983, ch. 318, § 28; 1991, ch. 192, § 3; 1998, ch. 34, § 13; 2019, ch. 154, § 1.

Recompilations. — Laws 1983, ch. 318, § 20, recompiled former 66-5-229 NMSA 1978, relating to default by a nonresident insurer, as 66-5-220 NMSA 1978, effective January 1, 1984.

The 2019 amendment, effective June 14, 2019, permitted the carrying of electronic evidence of financial responsibility; added a new Subsection D; and in Subsection E, after "comply with", deleted "this subsection shall be" and added "Subsection C of this section is".

The 1998 amendment, effective July 1, 1998, rewrote the section heading; substituted "department" for "division" throughout the section; in the introductory language of Subsection A, deleted "certified motor vehicle liability policy or" following "bond or"; inserted "of financial responsibility" near the end of the paragraph; in Paragraph A(1), substituted "specified" for "required", deleted "Subsection B, C or D of" following "in" and "and upon the deposit with the division of evidence of financial responsibility as set forth in Subsection A of that section" following "1978"; in Paragraphs A(2) and (3), deleted "in the event of" at the beginning; in Paragraph A(3), substituted "filed" for "given"; and in Subsection B, inserted "or waive the requirement of filing evidence of financial responsibility" near the beginning of the first sentence.

The 1991 amendment, effective June 14, 1991, substituted "the penalty set forth in Section 66-8-7 NMSA 1978" for "a fine of not more than one hundred dollars ($100) or imprisonment in the county jail for a definite term of less than thirty days or by such imprisonment and fine in the discretion of the judge" in the second sentence in Subsection C.