{"data":{"id":"us-nm/66-7-343","jurisdiction":"us-nm","citation":"66-7-343","heading":"Railroad-highway grade crossing violations; certain vehicles required to always stop; exceptions.","body":"A. Except as set forth in Subsection D of this section, a driver of a vehicle carrying passengers for hire, a school bus carrying school children or a vehicle carrying hazardous materials, radioactive or explosive substances or flammable liquids as cargo or as part of its cargo, before entering a railroad-highway grade crossing, is required to stop no more than fifty feet and no less than fifteen feet from the nearest rail of the railroad.\nB. While stopped, the driver shall:\n(1) look and listen in both directions along the track for an approaching train and for signals indicating that a train is approaching;\n(2) determine it is safe to proceed completely through the railroad-highway grade crossing before entering it; and\n(3) set the vehicle in a gear sufficiently low that gears will not need to be shifted before exiting the railroad-highway grade crossing.\nC. A driver shall not shift gears while in a railroad-highway grade crossing.\nD. A driver of a vehicle carrying passengers for hire, a school bus carrying school children or a vehicle carrying hazardous materials, radioactive or explosive substances or flammable liquids as cargo or as part of its cargo is not required to stop at:\n(1) a railroad-highway grade crossing where a police officer directs traffic to proceed;\n(2) a railroad-highway grade crossing where a stop-and-go traffic light controls movement of traffic;\n(3) a railroad-highway grade crossing used exclusively for industrial switching purposes, within a business district as defined in Section 66-1-4.2 NMSA 1978;\n(4) a railroad-highway grade crossing where use of the railroad has been abandoned and there is a sign indicating that the railroad has been abandoned; or\n(5) an industrial or spur line railroad-highway grade crossing marked with a sign reading \"exempt crossing\" that has been designated as exempt by appropriate state or local authorities.\nE. Penalties for violation of this section are included in Section 66-8-116 NMSA 1978.","path":["Chapter 66 - Motor Vehicles","ARTICLE 7 Traffic Laws; Signs, Signals and Markings; Accidents; Weight and Size; Traffic Safety"],"source_url":"https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa-unanno/en/item/18569/index.do","current_through":"2026-07-01","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-03T15:02:20Z","sha256":"54362b4db7cd9328f9e6307001bd7a74a076d4e23eee7fe117334e100d69acdc","source_id":"us-nm","stale":false,"prev":"us-nm/66-7-342","next":"us-nm/66-7-344"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}