Representative Dixon introduced House Bill 600 on increased penalties for vehicular homicide during a committee hearing that included law enforcement and family testimony but no formal vote.

The bill would elevate certain vehicular homicide charges tied to reckless driving to a second-degree felony and create a fourth-degree felony for deaths or great bodily harm caused while committing careless driving, a change supporters said would close a sentencing gap and give prosecutors more options.

Representative Dixon said she brought HB 600 after seeing an “alarming trend in street racing and reckless driving incidents” in Albuquerque and elsewhere and because existing penalties have not deterred those behaviors. “This legislation recognizes the significant difference between different levels of driver culpability,” Dixon said, adding the change would provide “justice for victims and families” and “enhanced deterrence.”

Albuquerque Police Department Sergeant James Burton, sergeant of APD’s fatal crash unit, described recent shifts in fatal-crash causes and urged the committee to act. “Part of my responsibility in my position is I have to be the one to call families and tell them that their loved ones are deceased because of these crashes,” Burton said. He told lawmakers that while driving-under-the-influence cases historically accounted for many fatal crashes, “reckless driving has now passed” and that careless-driving charges currently can carry only misdemeanor penalties in many cases.

Burton explained the difference between reckless and careless as the state currently treats them: reckless requires proof of more intentional dangerous driving behavior, while careless is treated more as an accidental or lesser standard. He said HB 600 would raise penalties for reckless-caused deaths and add a felony-level option when careless driving leads to death, so prosecutors would not be forced to reduce cases to low-level misdemeanors when reckless cannot be proved.

Family members of victims described the human toll of crashes they linked to racing or reckless driving. One speaker said, “Eleven months ago today … my brother Ben Gonzalez was killed in an accident in Albuquerque. The driver was speeding almost twice the speed limit and ran a red light,” and urged lawmakers to “make our streets safer.” A parent who identified her daughter as a victim said, “When our daughter Jenna woke up on October eighth of 2023, she had no idea at all that her life would be cruelly taken by 7:30 of that evening,” and described serious injuries to other children involved.

Other law-enforcement officials voiced statewide concern. Ben Valdez, identified as deputy chief of the Sanjay Police, said unsafe driving “is not only one community in our state that’s affected.” Troy Weiser, chief of the New Mexico State Police, described New Mexico’s high per-capita traffic fatality rate and urged stronger enforcement tools. Steve Hebbie, chief of the Farmington Police Department and president of the New Mexico Chiefs of Police Association, said the association “strongly support[s] this bill.”

Committee members asked technical and policy questions. Representative Armstrong requested clarification about the difference between careless and reckless; Burton explained that reckless involves intentional dangerous maneuvers (for example, weaving or very high speeds in a business or residential district), while careless covers failures such as running a red light or not looking before entering traffic, which courts often treat as a lesser infraction. Burton and members discussed penalty ranges as described at the hearing: a misdemeanor penalty described by witnesses ranged from roughly 30 to 90 days (the transcript contains both figures), a fourth-degree felony was described as carrying about 1½ years, a third-degree felony about three years (sometimes up to six), and a second-degree felony up to about 18 years. Those figures were presented by witnesses as explanatory ranges rather than statutory citations.

Members also discussed noncriminal strategies such as Vision Zero (a roadway-safety approach) and New Mexico Department of Transportation’s Target 0 program. Sergeant Burton described Vision Zero work with traffic engineers and community stakeholders to examine lighting, roadway design and speed limits for preventing fatal and serious-injury crashes. Several members urged public education and suggested the bill could include funding for outreach to notify the public about any new law.

No formal motion or vote was taken at the hearing; the committee heard the presentation and public comment and members indicated interest in sponsoring or cosponsoring the bill in a future session. Representative Dixon and several members said they intended to continue work on the proposal during the next legislative cycle.

Ending: The hearing closed after roughly 37 minutes of discussion and testimony; the committee adjourned without a vote, and HB 600 was left for further consideration in a future legislative session.