National Guardsmen in San Luis Potosí avoided a potentially deadly highway crash when a semitrailer lost its brakes on the Mexico City-Piedras Negras highway on Monday.
In a coordinated effort with toll booth operators and other motorists, they cleared a lane for the truck to drive freely and ultimately pass through a toll booth before reaching a stretch of road on which it could slow to a stop.
“National Guard troops made contact with a semitrailer driving in the left lane and they saw a woman in the passenger seat with a piece of red cloth who shouted that they had no brakes,” the national security force said in a statement.
They cleared the truck’s path, coordinating with personnel at the Los Chorros toll plaza to clear the area and leave a lane open, then informed the driver of the truck over a loudspeaker that they had cleared a path.
The driver was able to bring the truck to a stop safely near the town of Matehuala, San Luis Potosí, after having passed through the toll booths without incident.
Recorremos las carreteras para apoyarte cuando más lo necesitas. En #Coahuila, auxiliamos a los tripulantes de un tráiler que se quedó sin frenos. La respuesta inmediata permitió que no hubiera lesionados, ni daños materiales. #JusticiaYPaz pic.twitter.com/JLZ6oU0dpm
— Guardia Nacional (@GN_MEXICO_) April 6, 2020
The operation potentially saved dozens of lives that could have been lost had the semi crashed or collided with another vehicle.
A bus accident in Veracruz left 21 people dead and 30 injured after it lost its brakes and collided with a semitrailer on the Veracruz-Puebla highway last May.
Source: El Universal (sp)
