New Mexico Administrative Code
Title 18 - TRANSPORTATION AND HIGHWAYS
Chapter 19 - MOTOR VEHICLE PROCEDURES, LICENSES, PERMITS
Part 5 - DRIVER'S LICENSE
Section 18.19.5.50 - POINT SYSTEM - PURPOSE - DEFINITIONS
Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 6, March 26, 2024
A. Section 66-5-30 NMSA 1978 authorizes the department to suspend the driver's license of an individual who has been convicted of violations of the traffic laws with such frequency as to show disrespect for those laws or has been found to be an habitually reckless or negligent driver of a motor vehicle. To provide a reasonable, objective and fair method by which the department may determine whether an individual shows disrespect for the traffic laws of this state through frequency of conviction for violations or is habitually reckless or negligent and to promote the public safety by removing such drivers from the roads, the department establishes a "point system" with 18.19.5.50 through 18.19.5.56 NMAC. This point system continues the point system in effect prior to July 1, 1992.
B. For the purposes of 18.19.5.50 through 18.19.5.56 NMAC, "conviction" means an adjudication of guilt including a finding of guilty by a court, a plea of guilty entered by the court, a plea of nolo contendere accepted by the court, a plea of guilty pursuant to a penalty assessment misdemeanor (Sections 66-8-116 through 66-8-119 NMSA 1978 or the forfeiture of bail or other collateral deposited to secure the violator's appearance in court; "conviction" also includes a conviction for a traffic violation in any other state, territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia and any province of the Dominion of Canada so long as the conviction in that jurisdiction is for a violation of a traffic law for which points would be assessed if the conviction were for a violation of the traffic laws of this state. "Conviction" does not include the imposition of sentence.
C. For the purposes of 18.19.5.50 through 18.19.5.56 NMAC, "driver" means an individual who operates a motor vehicle upon the traffic-ways of this state whether or not that individual holds a valid driver's license issued either by this state under the provisions of the Motor Vehicle Code or by another jurisdiction under the laws of that jurisdiction.
D. For the purposes of 18.19.5.50 through 18.19.5.56 NMAC, "traffic-way" means a public highway or any other place, such as a parking lot, which is open for driving of motor vehicles by members of the general public and which is subject to the traffic control regulation of the state or a political subdivision of the state.
