A. All vehicles with a gross vehicle weight in excess of one hundred seventy thousand pounds shall require a special permit as provided for in Section 66-7-413 NMSA 1978, and no such permit shall be issued unless:

(1) an engineering investigation and review have been conducted to:

(a) establish whether the move could be made without visible or documented damages to the portion of road or bridges upon which the move is to be made;

(b) establish whether the move could be made without visible or documented damages to any private facilities along the road upon which the move is to be made; and

(c) estimate the cost for any necessary modifications the move may cause; and

(2) when required, the applicant has submitted to the New Mexico state police division of the department of public safety and the local highway authorities all pertinent information requested of the applicant by the New Mexico state police division. If the submitted data are not acceptable to the department of transportation, the applicant will be advised by the New Mexico state police division that engineering investigations will be conducted by the department of transportation, and the cost incurred by the department of transportation will be paid by the applicant as an added cost to the permit fee.

B. The New Mexico state police division shall adopt the necessary rules and regulations for the development of data for an investigation to determine whether to issue any special permit pursuant to Section 66-7-413 NMSA 1978.

C. The applicant or the applicant's employer shall pay the costs for any modifications to the road, bridges or private facilities along the road that the New Mexico state police division has determined are necessary for the issuance of the special permit and the costs for any damages to the road or bridges that are the result of the move and the fault of the mover and not the New Mexico state police division.

D. Any person who violates the provisions of Subsection A of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or imprisonment for a definite term not to exceed six months, or both.

E. Nothing contained in this section shall limit in any manner the authority of the state, a county, a municipality or a political subdivision to collect damages for any unlawful use of highways as provided by law.

History: Laws 1989, ch. 291, § 1; 2003, ch. 141, § 5; 2015, ch. 3, § 38.

The 2015 amendment, effective July 1, 2015, provided the New Mexico state police division of the department of public safety with the authority to initiate engineering investigations for the purpose of issuing special permits for vehicles in excess of one hundred seventy thousand pounds; in Subsection A, Paragraph 2, substituted "New Mexico state police" for "motor transportation" throughout the paragraph; in the first sentence of Paragraph 2, after the second occurrence of "division", deleted "of the department of public safety"; in the second sentence of Paragraph 2, after "data", deleted "is" and added "are", after "acceptable to the", deleted "state highway and" and added "department of", after the first occurrence of "transportation", deleted "department", after "division" deleted "of the department of public safety", after "conducted by the", deleted "state highway and" and added "department of", after the second occurrence of "transportation", deleted "department", after "incurred by the", deleted "state highway and" and added "department of", after the third occurrence of "transportation", deleted "department", and after "added cost to", deleted "his" and added "the"; in Subsection B, after "The", deleted "motor transportation" and added "New Mexico state police", and after "division", deleted "of the department of public safety"; in Subsection C, after "road that the", deleted "motor transportation" and added "New Mexico state police", and after each occurrence of "division", deleted "of the department of public safety", and after "mover and not the", deleted "motor transportation" and added "New Mexico state police"; in Subsection D, after "section", deleted "shall be" and added "is", and after "misdemeanor and", added "shall be"; and in Subsection E, after "subdivision", deleted "thereof".

The 2003 amendment, effective June 30, 2003, inserted "of the department of public safety" following "division" throughout the section.