New Mexico: Cell phone laws, legislation
Last updated: February 24, 2010 · Print this report
Cell phone, text messaging legislation news: The New Mexico House approved a ban on handheld cell phone use and text messaging for drivers on Feb. 9, 2010. The governor is a strong supporter of distracted driving prohibitions.
Current prohibitions:
No statewide limits on cell phones except for their use by driving students and drivers of state vehicles.
Local ordinances restrict driving while cell phoning in Albuquerque, Gallup, Taos, Santa Fe, Las Cruces and Espanola.
2010 legislation:
HB 10: Would ban handheld cell phone use by drivers, text messaging and similar wireless communications. Hands-free operation OK. Train operators banned from all cell phone use. School bus operators cannot use cell phones except for official business. Fines for drivers $25. Approved by the House in a 35-30 vote on Feb. 9, 2010 and sent to the Senate Public Affairs Committee. (Lujan, Garcia)
SB 89: Would outlaw text messaging while driving in New Mexico. Fines $50 then $100. Approved by the Judiciary Committee on Feb. 8. (Fischmann) (Also SB 188 by Lovejoy)
2010 legislation notes:
Gov. Richardson has called distracted drivers “a menace to our streets.”
Richardson backed HB 10, which would ban use of handheld wireless communications devices for all drivers. “We’ve all seen drivers swerving around the road while talking on the phone and texting, putting the safety and lives of New Mexicans in danger,” Richardson said Dec. 15.
HB 10 sponsor Rep. Antonio Lujan, D-Las Cruces, has been working for distracted driving legislation for at least four years.
Violators under HB 10 would have been fined $250 in the original bill, but that was cut to $25 in committee.
2009 legislation:
HB 301 would prohibit text messaging while operating a motor vehicle. Approved by the New Mexico House on Feb. 26 and sent to the Senate.
SB 341: Would ban reading, writing and sending text messages while driving. (Appears identical to HB 301.) Approved by the Senate on March 5 and sent to the House.
2009 legislation notes:
Rep. Lujan introduced HB 301, which would outlaw text messaging while operating a motor vehicle. The bill was approved in the House on a 35-24 vote but did not advance in the Senate. It called for a $100 fine per violation, high for the state. “(Texting while behind the wheel) seems to be much more hazardous and becoming more and more prevalent,” Lujan said.
Sen. Lynda Lovejoy, D-Crownpoint, authored the Senate version of the text messaging legislation. “I have young adult children, and I have a whole slew of nieces and nephews, and when I travel with them it is very frightening when they use their text messaging,” she said. The bill was approved in the Senate on a 22-15 vote.
Local cell phone/texting laws:
Las Cruces’ ban on text messaging and use of handheld cell phones while driving went into effect Feb. 4, 2010. The City Council approved the plan Dec. 7.
Espanola‘s ban on drivers’ use of handheld cell phones is in effect as of July 1, 2009. Police chief Julian Gonzales had this advice for citizens: “Stay off the phone, quit texting, drive your vehicle, pull over if you have to.”
The Gallup city council voted Dec. 11, 2008, to punish distracted driving resulting from text messaging, cell phones, applying make-up, etc.
Santa Fe’s local ban on use of hand-held cell phones while driving survived an attempted repeal on June 9, 2008. Councilors voted 6-2 to keep the ordinance, first enacted in 2001. The city is averaging 124 tickets a month, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.
Councilor Rebecca Wurzburger wants to hike the fine from $100 to $500: “We should experiment with expanding this law, not retracting it,” she said. Other councilors said they would support extending the ban to all use of cell phones while driving, including those with hands-free devices.
Previous legislation:
The Legislature considered a ban on cell phone use without a hands-free device in 2006, but the legislation failed to clear committee.
Texting while driving is NOT that big of a deal. if your responsible enough to do it then who cares?
the people that can’t handle it are clearly the ones who are being charged and such. so don’t blame everone else.
you should ask someone whose loved one has been injured or killed, by someone texting or talking on a phone, if it’s NOT that big of a deal.
Texting and use of cell phones (hand held or even hands free) are very dangerous activities. The big problem with cell phone usage is that you are formulating your response, and listening to conversations which take your conscious mind off of driving, and although you are still looking down the road, you brain is engaged in other activities (listening and conversing).
If everyone would concentrate on their driving realizing the problem when they are distracted, then there would be less wrecks, BUT, unfornitutely people don’t, so the governement must make decisions for the irresponsible people who do not make logical decisions for themselves, and we all pay more insurance because of it. Society does not seem to want to be responsible for our own individual actions, and we want the Government to tell us every little thing that we should do.
People — be responsible for your own actions, and teach you kids to be also.
Thanks, Randy (CDL Examiner trainer, Defensive Driving Instructor, EMT Instructor, and general cool dude.)
I agree with Renee and Randy. Yes, it is a BIG DEAL. Texting, talking on the phone, or anything else that distracts a driver’s attention is dangerous. It only takes a split second for an accident to happen, so anyone who is driving a motor vehicle is responsible for having their complete attention on the road and what’s going on around them…..not what Johnny So & So thought of your outfit and hair last night.
I think the companies that make the cell phones and have put so much junk on them should be held responsible….as well as parents who purchase these type of phones for their children and teenagers. You have created a generation of zombies because of it. A cell phone should have been just a phone and nothing else….but corporate America has dollar signs in its eyes and didn’t stop to think or care about the consequences of such devices.