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Horrible truck accident


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Coming into Chapala 20 minutes ago across from Soriana a semi truck with a load of sand had just impaled into a house, the front cab was completely inside the house and if they remove the truck I'm sure the house will go down in the process. Ambulance was on the way, but it looks bad for anyone inside the house

Wouldn't be surprised if they take days to pull the truck out. 

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This is a horrible accident. Sadly, I expected this to happen as I have been watching these 22 wheelers coming down this steep grad loaded with sand or stones. The local paper said that the truck lost its brakes. For me the driver is a hero as he ditched the truck rather then continuing in to Chapala which would have most probably caused a blood bath. On a side note, when ever I am at this red light or the one across from Walmart I always keep an eye on my rear view mirror, because this is not the first time and sadly not he last as from what I understand, and please correct me if I am wrong, but Mexico does not have the same level of truck inspections that say the US or Canada has. (I went by this accident about 5 minutes after it occurred) 

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IMO, the Municipality should/could enact some law, applicable to the municipality, that all trucks over a specified weight, must have proof of brake inspection every yea at the least, better six months.

With proper inspection and maintenance, brakes should not fail.

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5 hours ago, HoneyBee said:

This is a horrible accident.with sand or stones. For me the driver is a hero as he ditched the truck rather then continuing in to Chapala which would have most probably caused a blood bath.

This BRAVE man  elected to commit suicide in order to protect others. I for one fervently hope his family are told what an honourable route he chose, and praise is given where due.

It was not his fault the brakes failed. But he still had "options" and chose the best-worst available.

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A few years ago the residents of Chapala Haciendas were trying to stop the trucks using the engine brake. (Jake Brake) as they passed  CH because it disturbed them.   Using the engine brake  saves a tremendous amount of wear on the trucks brake shoes..   

I have never noticed if the municipality did erected signs saying “Do not use engine braking” 

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1 hour ago, HoneyBee said:

Am curious, how does it work ?

There is a foot petal on the left side under the dashboard. I am sure all cars and pickups on the road today have some kind of emergency brake (usually a hand brake). I was just curious as to why these huge commercial trucks do not have some sort of backup system to override failed brakes and avoid such a disastrous situation.

For years before moving here I lived in Apple Valley Ca. in the Victorville area in what is known as the High Desert a couple of hours from L.A. In order to get up and down the 4,000 ft. elevation there is 4 lane Highway 15 and the Cajon Pass carved into the mountainside. This is the primary route back and fourth to Las Vegas and also has a huge amount of 18 wheel truck/container traffic. On the down side route (very steep) they have a diversion lane that ends in large sand bank to slow and stop runaway trucks. This is highly marked with signage well ahead of it. Maybe this should be a consideration here???

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You have described what is normally called "the parking brake". It only operates the rear brakes, and is not intended as a "backup system". Of course, if everything else failed, you might try it, but I doubt you would be happy with the result.

Air brakes on large trucks, RVs, etc., must be operated with great care, as the operator can easily cause them to overheat and become temporarily ineffective. It happens more often than you might expect, and is why special training is recommended. On a long downhill run, it is wise to slow down early, and use the lower gears and engine brake to maintain a lower speed, avoiding overheated brakes.

As you may now suspect, "Driver error" is the most likely cause of accidents like these.

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Whilst not an expert and making a wild a(:) guess like the rest of you, I think speed plays a major factor in all these types of accidents.

Given the relativity long and  "flat" approach to those traffic lights, the driver could be downshifting to a crawl and come to a slow speed without brakes!!

Frankly most of the trucks being driven on Mexican roads, including buses look and sound like flying bombs on wheels. Sadly unless there is strict inspection testing, the majority of owners will only fix the problem when it is broken . Was it overloaded? I am sorry for the loss of life.

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I am sorry for the loss of life and property, it is awful.

Today as I was driving pass the house I had to stop at the light and a volteo full of sand was going way to fast , I sure was watching to see if he could stop.. but when you are not the first one at the light you are out of luck. A few years ago whn our car was brand new a truck full of bricks ran into us as we were paying the toll.. and demolished the back of the car.. We were lucky we did not get hurt but I was furious and the driver heard me swearing at him in a few languages.... Many of this drivers are on speed to be able to drive longer hours and many of them are basket cases.. I know a few driver and they are all taking pills to stay awake.. That should b chcked big time.

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9 hours ago, TelsZ4 said:

A few years ago the residents of Chapala Haciendas were trying to stop the trucks using the engine brake. (Jake Brake) as they passed  CH because it disturbed them.   Using the engine brake  saves a tremendous amount of wear on the trucks brake shoes..   

I have never noticed if the municipality did erected signs saying “Do not use engine braking” 

Some of these doofuses are using their jake brakes all the way through town on the carretera. Completely illegal here and completely ignored by transitos.

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1 hour ago, AndyPanda said:

Some of these doofuses are using their jake brakes all the way through town on the carretera. Completely illegal here and completely ignored by transitos.

I'm not sure of the previous grade the trucks experience or how long the grade is in your towns but there is an ugly part of trucks air brakes. Thee compressor fills a tank the brakes operate off of. If you are on a grade and the vehicle in front of you is going slower than engine brake can slow to you air tank for brakes can get drained to where the brakes aren't going to work. Some systems have an autobrake for when pressure gets low. Not sure how it works but with low air pressure that's out of the question. Army trucks I had driven wouldn't move till pressure is up but from experience after driving and coming down a mountain being mindful of speed that auto brake sure didn't work after trying to not go fast in turns. Jake engine braking helps not having to brake and lose pressure as fast but constant grade and traffic tapping brakes I'd figure it's to heck with the law and engine brake a lot instead of possibly rear ending somebody. Thanks for reminding me how lousy it was finding out the compressor don't keep up with lots of brake usage :) Don't recall what I said to myself but I do recall thinking of all those jagged rocks and why me and deciding it's engine braking the rest of the way and that still wasn't a pleasing waiting minutes for pressure to be good again. Takes a lot of air for all those brakes and trailer brakes behind a 5 ton. I imagine trucks that aren't automatics have it easier but that army went with automatics so lots of braking is needed when cruising needing to use drive. I figure the guys air tanks pressure ran out.

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9 hours ago, Stream said:

I'm not sure of the previous grade the trucks experience or how long the grade is in your towns but there is an ugly part of trucks air brakes. Thee compressor fills a tank the brakes operate off of. If you are on a grade and the vehicle in front of you is going slower than engine brake can slow to you air tank for brakes can get drained to where the brakes aren't going to work. Some systems have an autobrake for when pressure gets low. Not sure how it works but with low air pressure that's out of the question. Army trucks I had driven wouldn't move till pressure is up but from experience after driving and coming down a mountain being mindful of speed that auto brake sure didn't work after trying to not go fast in turns. Jake engine braking helps not having to brake and lose pressure as fast but constant grade and traffic tapping brakes I'd figure it's to heck with the law and engine brake a lot instead of possibly rear ending somebody. Thanks for reminding me how lousy it was finding out the compressor don't keep up with lots of brake usage :) Don't recall what I said to myself but I do recall thinking of all those jagged rocks and why me and deciding it's engine braking the rest of the way and that still wasn't a pleasing waiting minutes for pressure to be good again. Takes a lot of air for all those brakes and trailer brakes behind a 5 ton. I imagine trucks that aren't automatics have it easier but that army went with automatics so lots of braking is needed when cruising needing to use drive. I figure the guys air tanks pressure ran out.

Don't know where you are, but the carretera here is just one long, flat strip of paved road.

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