The following motor vehicles are exempt from the Mandatory Financial Responsibility Act:

A. a motor vehicle owned by the United States government, any state or any political subdivision of a state;

B. an implement of husbandry or special mobile equipment that is only incidentally operated on a highway;

C. a motor vehicle operated upon a highway only for the purpose of crossing such highway from one property to another;

D. a commercial motor vehicle registered or proportionally registered in this and any other jurisdiction, provided such motor vehicle is covered by a motor vehicle insurance policy or equivalent coverage or other form of financial responsibility in compliance with the laws of any other jurisdiction in which it is registered;

E. a motor vehicle approved as self-insured by the superintendent of insurance pursuant to Section 66-5-207.1 NMSA 1978; and

F. any motor vehicle when the owner has submitted to the department a signed statement, in the form prescribed by the department, declaring that the vehicle will not be operated on the highways of New Mexico and explaining the reasons therefor.

History: 1978 Comp., § 66-5-507, enacted by Laws 1983, ch. 318, § 8; 1986, ch. 111, § 1; 1998, ch. 34, § 8.

Recompilations. — Laws 1983, ch. 318, § 8, recompiled former 66-5-207 NMSA 1978, relating to the meaning of "judgment," as 66-5-209 NMSA 1978, effective January 1, 1984.

The 1998 amendment, effective July 1, 1998, in Subsection D, substituted "insurance" for "liability policy or certified motor vehicle liability" following "a motor vehicle", inserted "equivalent coverage or" following "policy or"; in Subsection F, substituted "department" for "division" twice, and deleted "as may be" following "form"; and made minor stylistic changes.

Self-insured car rental company exempt. — A self-insured car rental company was not subject to the requirements of the Mandatory Financial Responsibility Act. Cordova v. Wolfel, 1995-NMSC-061, 120 N.M. 557, 903 P.2d 1390.

A regulation on the requirements for obtaining a certificate of self-insurance stating that car rental agreements must provide that the lessor shall be primarily liable and that the lessee shall be secondarily liable under the Mandatory Financial Responsibility Act did not make the Act applicable to a self-insured car rental company, because that interpretation would directly conflict with Subsection E which explicitly exempts self-insured vehicles. Cordova v. Wolfel, 1995-NMSC-061, 120 N.M. 557, 903 P.2d 1390.

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 60 C.J.S. Motor Vehicles § 111.