Section 66-7-343 - Railroad-highway grade crossing violations; certain vehicles required to always stop; exceptions. - New Mexico Statutes

66-7-343. Railroad-highway grade crossing violations; certain vehicles required to always stop; exceptions.

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.   

B.     While stopped, the driver shall:   

(1)     look and listen in both directions along the track for an approaching train and for signals indicating that a train is approaching;   

(2)     determine it is safe to proceed completely through the railroad-highway grade crossing before entering it; and   

(3)     set the vehicle in a gear sufficiently low that gears will not need to be shifted before exiting the railroad-highway grade crossing.   

C.     A driver shall not shift gears while in a railroad-highway grade crossing.   

D.     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:   

(1)     a railroad-highway grade crossing where a police officer directs traffic to proceed;   

(2)     a railroad-highway grade crossing where a stop-and-go traffic light controls movement of traffic;   

(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;   

(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   

(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.   

E.     Penalties for violation of this section are included in Section 66-8-116 NMSA 1978.