Everything a New Mexico parent needs in one place — required practice hours, night-driving rules, permit age, and what the written test looks like — plus a free log that keeps the hours straight.
Requirements summarized from the official New Mexico driver handbook.
Restrictions: Requires driver education enrollment; licensed adult 21+ in front seat; 50 supervised hours (10 at night)
Restrictions: Held permit 6 months; no driving midnight-5am; max 1 passenger under 21 (excluding family)
Restrictions: After 12 violation-free months on provisional license
In New Mexico, it is illegal to drive without wearing safety belts; use both the lap belt and shoulder belt in a two-part system. All children under the age of 12 must wear appropriate safety restraints while the vehicle is moving, and children under the age of 24 months, or weighing less than 60 pounds, must be secured in an approved safety device.
New Mexico’s maximum limits are 15 mph within a school zone with a posted speed limit, 30 mph in business or residential areas unless posted otherwise, 55 mph on public highways unless posted otherwise, and 75 mph on rural interstate highways unless posted otherwise. Do not drive below a posted minimum; if none is posted, do not interfere with regular traffic flow.
In New Mexico, you can be arrested for driving with a BAC of .08% or more—or at .02% if you are under 21—and refusing a BAC test can result in losing your license for one year. Cell phone use is a dangerous distraction; pull over for calls whenever possible, and remember that some towns prohibit using a cell phone while driving unless it is hands-free.
Stop for a school bus with red lights flashing whether it is on your side, the opposite side, or at an intersection you are approaching; you need not stop for an oncoming bus if a median or other physical barrier separates the roadway. Yield to pedestrians in or about to enter a crosswalk, remember that not all crosswalks are marked, and watch for children after a school bus’s red lights stop flashing.
For an approaching emergency vehicle using a siren, air horn, or red or blue flashing light, yield and pull as far right as possible; if you are in an intersection, drive through it before pulling over.
At an intersection without a stop sign, yield sign, or traffic signal, yield to vehicles coming from the right. At a 4-way stop, the first driver to arrive goes first; if vehicles arrive together, the vehicle on the right goes first.
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