2020 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 66 - Motor Vehicles
Article 1 - General Provisions
Section 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 autocycles 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 [66-5-201 to 66-5-239 NMSA 1978], "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.
History: 1978 Comp., § 66-1-4.11, enacted by Laws 1990, ch. 120, § 12; 1998, ch. 34, § 3; 2007, ch. 319, § 6; 2015, ch. 53, § 3.
ANNOTATIONSThe 2015 amendment, effective June 19, 2015, provided for "autocycles" within the definition of motorcycle, as used in the Motor Vehicle Code; and in Subsection F, after "ground,", added "including autocycles and".
The 2007 amendment, effective June 15, 2007, required boats to be covered by manufacturer's certificates of origin; eliminated the requirement that manufacturer's certificates of origin contain space for reassignment and a description of the vehicle; and eliminated the definition of "metal tire" and relettered former Subsections F to J as Subsections E to I.
The 1998 amendment, effective July 1, 1998, substituted "movable" for "moveable" in Subsection B, substituted "department" for "division" in Subsection D, and rewrote Subsection J.
Windrower not "vehicle" nor "motor vehicle". — A windrower, a piece of farm machinery used to mow, crimp and cut hay or other crops into rows to be picked up and compacted into bales, is not a "vehicle" or "motor vehicle" under the statutory definition. Smith Mach. Corp. v. Hesston, Inc., 1985-NMSC-004, 102 N.M. 245, 694 P.2d 501.
Freight trailer. — A freight trailer separated from a truck tractor is not an "automobile" under the Motor Vehicle Code. Newman v. Basis Motor Co., 1982-NMCA-074, 98 N.M. 39, 644 P.2d 553.
"Self-propelled motor vehicle" construed. — Where a mechanical device is not propelled by its own motor or fuel, but instead receives its power through a trailing cable which conveys electricity to it from an outside source, the device is not "self-propelled." Kaiser Steel Corp. v. Revenue Div., 1981-NMCA-042, 96 N.M. 117, 628 P.2d 687, cert. denied, 96 N.M. 116, 628 P.2d 686.
Snowmobile. — The term "motor vehicle" does not include a snowmobile. State v. Eden, 1989-NMCA-038, 108 N.M. 737, 779 P.2d 114, cert. denied, 108 N.M. 681, 777 P.2d 1325.
No distinction between propulsion and nonpropulsion parts. — The statutory definitions of the terms "vehicle" and "motor vehicle" does not distinguish between the propulsion and nonpropulsion parts thereof. Halliburton Co. v. Property Appraisal Dep't, 1975-NMCA-123, 88 N.M. 476, 542 P.2d 56.
Pickups and trucks fall within meaning of "motor vehicle" as used in the act's (former Motor Vehicle Code) title, and within the term "automobile" as used in the body of the act. 1967 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 67-134.
Articulated bus. — Articulated bus is hybrid vehicle with towing unit falling within the definition of motor vehicle and bus and the towed unit falling within the definition of semi-trailer. 1961 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 61-39.
Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — Validity, construction, and application of exclusion of government vehicles from uninsured motorist provision, 58 A.L.R.5th 511.
