State Sen. George Munoz (D-Gallup) wants to pass a bill to keep semi-trucks out of the left lane on New Mexico highways and interstates so that traffic can move more smoothly and safely.

Munoz explained the need for the bill during a Senate Committee meeting, in which the bill passed 8-0. 

“It’s dangerous; you get on I-40, and you’re going along at 75 miles an hour, and a semi pulls out at 65 and tries to pass the other semi at 67, and traffic backs up for ten miles and frustration levels with people are getting ridiculous,” he said to committee members, quoted in a recent KRQE report.

Senate Bill 102 requires semi-trucks to stay to the right way—unless to pass—on any highway that has two lanes or more. A $250 fine will be imposed if they do not.

Munoz got a similar bill passed through the Legislature last year, but it was not signed into law by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. This time, Munoz was armed with statistics.

“It’s about 384 fatal accidents in New Mexico on I-40 alone,” Munoz said.

When asked about this latest effort in the Roundhouse, State Police Lt. Wendy Carpenter-Graft told KRQE that keeping semis in the right lane would help.

“If we cut it down to the right lane, or we were to add a lane, it would help New Mexico a lot,” she said. “Even though we’re a very spread-out state and there’s not a lot of people here, the commercial traffic is still the same in every other state as it is in New Mexico. So, we have to accommodate for that.”

Carpenter-Graft also pointed out that trucks can take “30 to 40 percent longer to stop than a car does because of the size and the weight that they’re carrying.”