ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Cars without drivers are making their way to New Mexico roads. But some advocates want to ensure people are safe.

“None of us are against the driverless ‘tech’; we just want to make sure it’s done right,” said Mike Sievers, a local attorney with experience in motor vehicle safety.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Association, there have been 130 crashes from 2021 to 2022 involving driverless cars. In 2021, New Mexico lawmakers passed a statute allowing self-driving vehicles to be tested on public roads, but with few requirements. One of those requirements is letting the NMDOT know about the testing just five days beforehand. Advocates told lawmakers they’d like to see a new bill passed with more teeth to it.

“There’s no doubt that that technology will advance someday, but as of right now, that technology isn’t at a point to where it’s safe for New Mexico highways,” they told lawmakers.

Some companies like Torc Robotics in Albuquerque are testing self-driving semi trucks on I-40 and I-25. Advocates want stronger regulation to include having a human on board to monitor the self-driving technology, requiring proof of risk minimization to the public, and the submission of safety data to the state. However, some are still skeptical about that data.

“Some of the data that these companies are going to present aren’t necessarily accurate to the fact of the real-world situation,” said one advocate. “They test these on sunny days; they don’t test them during snowstorms.”

Advocates also touched on the impact the growth of autonomous vehicles can have on the New Mexico workforce. “The job impact for this state, this is a poor state, and these are high-paying jobs,” said Tracy McCarty, a former long-haul driver whose family also owned a local trucking company here.

They also suggested lawmakers create separate legislation to support the changes in the workforce. They suggested creating a workforce recovery fund that would provide financial support and job training opportunities to workers who lose their jobs to driverless vehicles. They also suggest creating a driver displacement severance clause requiring companies to provide resources for displaced workers due to the changing technology.

“These are jobs that cover families with insurance, and just a standard of living, a lot of people in this state don’t have pensions for life. These are things the state can’t afford to lose,” said McCarty.

A New Mexico-based credit union is bulking up in its home town, acquiring two branches from the $20.3 billion-asset Mountain America Credit Union in Sandy, Utah. 

Members of Mountain America’s two branches in Albuquerque, New Mexico, approved the transaction earlier this month, paving the way for their acquisition by Sunward Credit Union. Expected to close early next year, the deal will result in Mountain America’s exit from New Mexico. No terms were disclosed. 

Mountain West said in a press release it entered into the agreement with Sunward to focus on other geographies. Mountain West operates more than 100 branches in Utah, Nevada, Arizona and Idaho. A spokesperson had not responded to a request for comment at deadline. 

For the $4.2 billion-asset Sunward, founded in 1948 by employees of Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque is a core market. Sunward’s presence includes its headquarters and six other branches. “This addition will strengthen our position and ability to deliver on our goal of making banking better in the Southwest, and in New Mexico specifically,” Sunward CEO Steph Sherrodd said in a press release. 

Albuquerque credit unions have been active acquirers in 2024. The most prominent deals, however, involved banks. In March, the $4.9 billion-asset Nusenda Credit Union completed a deal to acquire the $327 million-asset Western Heritage Bank in Las Cruces. In August, the $1.5 billion-asset U.S. Eagle Credit Union said it planned to acquire the $475 million-asset, Albuquerque-based Southwest Capital Bank. No terms were announced in either instance. 

Branch sales between credit unions are relatively infrequent events, with about five taking place in any given year, Michael Bell, a partner with the Honigman law firm who specializes in credit union deals, said Tuesday in an interview. Like Mountain America’s agreement with Sunward, most involve one institution seeking to “right-size its footprint,” Bell said. 

While credit union branch deals typically involve cash consideration for property, as well as a deposit premium, “I do believe there is an altruistic motive as well,” with sellers often concluding the buyers can better serve their members, Bell said. 

Bell expects branch sales to occur more frequently, with credit unions that have shifted from  employment-based fields of membership to ones that are geographically-oriented moving to exit markets that made sense once but are now distant from the core service area. 

“Many credit unions do have odd footprints based on their historical genesis,” Bell said.

Sunward underwent a name change, from Sandia Laboratories Federal Credit Union, earlier this month. 

The family of a woman shot dead by a former New Mexico police officer has reached a $20 million settlement with the city that employed him, ahead of his murder trial next year.

Las Cruces police officer Felipe Hernandez killed Teresa Gomez, 45, last year and the city said in a statement Monday that his actions “on the morning of Oct. 3, 2023, were so severe that charges were brought against Hernandez.”

In January, Hernandez was charged with second-degree murder and later fired from the police department. He has pleaded not guilty and his trial is scheduled for June 2, 2025.

The shooting, which was captured on body camera footage, happened after Hernandez questioned Gomez and a passenger about trespassing after he saw the two of them sitting in a parked vehicle in an area that he described as “public housing.” Hernandez approached the vehicle on a bicycle, proceeding to tell Gomez to step out of her vehicle.

At one point he tells her: “You’re going to get tazed.” A minutes-long interaction takes place between the three and Gomez eventually leaves the vehicle to speak with the officer.

Hernandez recognized the passenger in the vehicle as a person who was allegedly the subject of multiple warrants for trespassing. Hernandez then tells Gomez to step outside of the vehicle, tell her there are rules that need to be followed.

“I will really, really make your life a living hell,” he said, according to the video.

After returning to the vehicle, Gomez then attempts to flee the scene and Hernandez fires at least three shots into the vehicle. She was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.

In its statement Monday, the city of Las Cruces said that the settlement should not indicate “criminal guilt” on the part of Hernandez and noted that it will respect the criminal justice process.

“This settlement should be understood as a statement of the City’s profound feeling of loss for the death of Gomez and of the City’s condolences to her family,” it added.

Shannon Kennedy, attorney for Gomez’ family, said in a statement to the Las Cruces Sun-News that Gomez’s parents, children and siblings are still mourning her loss.

“They are grateful to the City of Las Cruces for recognizing the injustice of Teresa’s death,” Kennedy said. “They trust that the city will redouble efforts to make sure no other family suffers the tragedy of losing a loved one to abusive police conduct.”

NBC News has contacted an attorney for Hernandez for comment overnight and had not received a response at the time of publication.