2021 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 66 - Motor Vehicles
Article 1 - General Provisions
Section 66-1-4.19 - Definitions.

As used in the Motor Vehicle Code:

A. "validating sticker" means the tab or sticker issued by the division to signify, upon a registration plate, renewed registration;

B. "vehicle" means every device in, upon or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, including any frame, chassis, body or unitized frame and body of any vehicle or motor vehicle, except devices moved exclusively by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks;

C. "vehicle-business number" means the distinctive registration number given by the division to any manufacturer, auto recycler or dealer; and

D. "vehicle plate" means a plate, marker, sticker or tag similar to a registration plate, but that is issued by the department for vehicles that are exempted from registration under the Motor Vehicle Code.

History: 1978 Comp., § 66-1-4.19, enacted by Laws 1990, ch. 120, § 20; 2005, ch. 324, § 5; 2017, ch. 70, § 1.

The 2017 amendment, effective July 1, 2017, defined "vehicle plate" as used in the Motor Vehicle Code; and added Subsection D.

The 2005 amendment, effective January 1, 2006, provided in Subsection B that "vehicle" includes a unitized frame and body and changed "wrecker of vehicles" to "auto recycler" in Subsection C.

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.

Mole. — The "mole" which is a piece of equipment weighing 100 tons and which is used to move employees and supplies in and out of a tunnel under construction and to remove excavated material out of the tunnel is not a vehicle. Gibbons & Reed Co. v. Bureau of Revenue, 1969-NMSC-096, 80 N.M. 462, 457 P.2d 710.

Mobile machine not necessarily "vehicle". — A finding that a machine "moves" or is "mobile" does not in itself support a conclusion that the machine can be "driven or moved upon a highway" for any purpose. 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.

In moving itself, a machine is not transporting property within the meaning of the Motor Vehicle Code. 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.