Truck with a report of robbery with violence
Staff. A person driving a stolen truck and triggering a police chase was arrested in Jocotepec. The incident was reported on April 16, on the Jocotepec-Chapala highway.
After the authorities received a complaint from a citizen alerting them of a pickup truck driving in an unusual manner, the municipal officers stopped a late model sand-colored Ford Explorer, but the driver chose to try to escape from the uniformed officers, unleashing a chase.
The driver entered the town of Chantepec, in order to elude the police who followed him, but his attempt was futile, and he was captured in that town. Upon reviewing the documents, the authorities realized that a report of robbery with violence had been filed on the vehicle.
Translated by Sydney Metrick
Cruzar en auto Ajijic durante Semana Santa fue rápido y sin complicaciones.
Redacción.- El intenso tránsito vehicular de la carretera Chapala-Jocotepec, a la altura de Ajijic, quedó eliminado, al menos durante las vacaciones, ya que se pudieron observar a agentes viales en cada semáforo, para controlar el paso de vehículos y así evitar congestionamientos viales, resultando una estrategia exitosa al no presentarse “atorones” en este punto que se ha vuelto bastante conflictivo.
En el operativo para agilizar la vialidad generó el incremento en el número de elementos trabajando, siendo 14 personas en la zona de Chapala y Ajijic, cuando regularmente son seis y sin que en Ajijic se desactiven los semáforos; en esta ocasión, fueron los elementos viales quienes, a criterio, se encargaban de dar el paso a peatones y automóviles que buscaban incorporarse a la carretera o ingresar al Pueblo Mágico.
La implementación de este operativo en la carretera de Ajijic tuvo buenos resultados, ya que en hora pico y en días de asueto, la zona era fluida y los peatones no tenían que esperar tanto tiempo bajo el sol para cruzar la calle.
Aunque no se especificó una fecha para que en Ajijic se implemente nuevamente esta estrategia vial, el Gobierno Municipal informó que están en proceso para incrementar el número de elementos viales y así darle solución a la vialidad que en fines de semana sufre de severas saturaciones ante el paso e ingreso de turistas.
Quienes también se ganaron el reconocimiento de la sociedad fueron los elementos de la Secretaría de Seguridad Pública de Jalisco, quienes durante el operativo vacacional auxiliaron a un automovilista que se había quedado en las curvas de Ixtlahuacán de los Membrillos, mientras que en el tramo del libramiento Chapala-Ajijic, oficiales de la policía municipal también auxiliaron a otro automovilista que sufrió una avería en su unidad.
Three vehicles were involved.
Staff. – Once again there was a vehicle collision on the Chapala-Jocotepec highway, at its intersection the Ajijic libramiento. Three vehicles were involved. The accident occurred on the evening of April 10.
The collision occurred when a white car cut into traffic in front of a NP 300 pickup truck, generating a collision and projecting the truck towards a Tida car that was traveling towards Chapala.
No one was injured in the accident, but it did complicate the traffic flow at a point that on Sundays has a heavy influx of vehicles in the afternoon. The point is known for frequent road accidents and was redesigned a year ago by the Government of Jalisco.
By: Patrick O’Heffernan
Yesterday, a fully loaded gravel truck lost its brakes coming down the Libramiento hill into Ajijic. It collided with two cars and ended up on its side. Fortunately no one was hurt, but 3 cars were seriously damaged, traffic was stalled, and the driver barely escaped with his life.
As I drove by the accident, I thought of another lost-my-brakes accident at the end of December in Coahuila on Highway 57 near Saltillo when a tanker truck that lost its brakes killed 5 people and injured 15 before stopping. And the tractor-trailer that lost its brakes and rammed into a house in Chapala last December, killing one person
It is only a matter of time before this happens again in Lakeside with a loss of life. Anyone who drives the Carretera west to Jocotepec can hear the air brakes on the trucks – not their mechanical brakes – because the drivers are afraid that the mechanical brakes may not work. But air brakes don’t apply immediately like mechanical brakes do; they take a few seconds to build up and apply pressure. And if there is a leak in the system or a pump seal fails, there are no brakes.
It takes an 18-wheeler traveling at 40 miles an hour 525 feet to stop if its brakes are in good condition and it is on a level road. In reality, it takes much longer; slow reaction of the driver, slick roads, worn brakes, overloaded trailer, and a downward sloping road all increase this distance by hundreds of feet, or even render the brakes useless
The first line of defense against these tragedies isa brake inspection every 6 months with trucks that fail to be taken off the road until they pass inspection. México does have brake inspections, and the standards for Mexican trucks have been accepted by the US, but many Mexican trucks are operated by local owner-operators or families who work on slim profit margins and cut costs where they can.
The easiest way to save money is not to spend it – on maintenance, like brakes – and skip inspections. So brakes fail. Solving this problem with a Federally-enforced, comprehensive, incorruptible brake inspection and certification program applied to every truck is not realistically in the cards. So, how do we prevent more accidents like Tuesday’s rollover at Walmart?
An easy, inexpensive solution is a runaway truck ramp at the bottom of the Libramiento.
A runaway truck ramp is an exit that comes off of a highway designed to safely stop a speeding truck using gravel, sand, collapsible barriers and sometimes an incline . A properly designed ramp can stop a fully-loaded speeding truck in a few hundred feet, often with little damage to the vehicle.
When the driver of a loaded truck comes down the Libramiento, hits the topes and realizes that the brakes are gone, he or she can swerve the truck into an escape ramp parallel to the Libramiento which will stop it before it reaches the Carretera. Signs warning drivers to test their brakes ahead of the ramp will allow them to use it if they need it.
There is room for a ramp next to the Libramiento before the intersection. The relative cost is relatively minimal – land purchase, grading, sand and gravel, collapsible barriers, a safety wall. And it needs little maintenance. If it saves one life, it is worth it.
Of course there are politics. Neither the Carretera nor the Libramiento are Chapala municipal roads; they are Federal. Getting the Federal agency to deal with the Walmart intersection took years and everyone pretty much agrees they didn’t help much. Getting them to build a runaway truck ramp could take years more, unless there is a spectacular accident and even then, who knows? But solving the problem can start locally; the new Chapala Director of Movilidad – the former Police Chief of Dallas, Texas , who was born here – is a problem solver,
get-it -done kind of guy. Perhaps he can light some fires under the right Federal chairs to prevent another runaway truck smashing into cars or even people on the Libramiento.
The bus was embedded in the back of the truck.
Redaction. – The apparent carelessness of a public transport driver left 35 injured and his bus embedded in a junkyard truck. The accident occurred during the afternoon of March 28 on the Chapala-Guadalajara highway, at the height of the so-called «curves of El Tapatío.»
According to the passengers, the driver of the C112 Agaves route was speeding and maneuvering to overtake other vehicles, but on the slope, a truck loaded with scrap metal was driving slowly because of its heavy load, so the public transport driver was unable to slow down enough to avoid the scrap metal truck and struck it from behind.
After the impact, people fell to the floor of the bus and some of them hit the seats hard enough to bend them. The passengers managed to get out of the bus and waited on the roadside for medical attention.
Translated by Sandy Britton
Smoke was visible from several parts of the Guadalajara-Morelia highway
Editor.- A fire in the hills of Jocotepec, between the districts of El Molino and Huejotitán, generated a huge column of smoke that was visible to motorists traveling on the Guadalajara-Morelia highway on the afternoon of Wednesday, March 30.
On social networks, people commented that there were damaged wire fences, burned pasture and environmental damage, blaming the incident on people who were vandalizing the area.
At this time of the year, it is common to see an increase in rural fires. Some are generated naturally, others due to accidents caused by farmers burning plots of land, or by people who want to subdivide the hillsides.
Translated by Nita Rudy
Jocotepec access sign is replaced
Alma Serrano (San Juan Cosalá).- The municipality of Jocotepec welcomed the Governor of Jalisco, Enrique Alfaro Ramírez with a new sign, for his visit to the Chapala Lakeside on March 25.
Days before, state personnel went to the Chapala-Jocotepec highway at the height of La Mojonera, on the border of the town of Ajijic with San Juan Cosalá, to replace the access sign to the municipality because it was incomplete and with and outdated structure at one of the ends.
Translated by Christalle Dalsted
The project proposes removing paving stone and replacing with concrete on Francisco I. Madero Avenue. Photo: Jazmín Stengel.
Jazmín Stengel (Chapala).- Chapala President Alejandro de Jesús Aguirre Curiel announced that the paving stones along Francisco I. Madero Avenue will be replaced with concrete by the Government of Jalisco in coordination with the Secretary of Infrastructure and Public Works of the State (SIOP).
The 80 million peso project includes the replacement of the paving stone with cement, the restoration of sidewalks and curbs (machuelos), as well as a subsidy to the merchants to upgrade their image along the Avene.
Laguna surveyed local citizens about their response to the project. Of twenty-two people interviewed in a survey in neighborhoods in the western part of the municipality, half said they were unaware of the plans to remodel Chapala’s main avenue, Francisco I. Madero.
While eight of the people informed about the issue were against it, three others approved of the project.
«As long as they do something, they can do it however they want» or «it would be fine,» were the most heard answers during the tour that Semanario Laguna made along the street.
Two of merchants who heard about it disagreed because concrete absorbs heat, is impermeable and its deterioration is more noticeable.
«The paving stone absorbs water, while concrete does not. The paving stone can be repaired in sections,» argued the owner of a veterinarian’s shop on the avenue, who also has a background in engineering.
A young pharmacist and environmentalist said that these types of materials «affect climate change.”
Others felt that it is an «unnecessary investment» because the paving stone can be lifted in parts, which makes it easier to repair, while the concrete is compacted in one piece, making the deterioration more visible and more expensive to restore, explained a woman interviewed in front of Chapala’s main square.
The project «looks nice, but the joke is that it lasts,» said a vendor near the central plaza. Her neighbor saw the need to give priority to the street repair around downtown, which «looks like you’re riding a donkey” when you drive down the road.
The poor drainage conditions and the slipperiness of the sidewalk tiles also caused a lot of talk. During the rainy season the drains overflow into the commercial businesses in the area.
The sidewalk tiles become slippery when wet, which has already caused several pedestrian accidents, according to neighbors.
«They only fix the showy stuff,» argued Carmen’s husband, accustomed to the fact that public consultations on projects of this type are non-existent in the municipality. To which his wife added: «Hold on! The government always gets its way.»
Translated by Nita Rudy
The mishap happened at the entrance to a gas station
Editor: A cyclist was left lying on the pavement of the Chapala-Jocotepec highway, after being hit by a pickup truck.
The victim was riding on the bicycle path in the La Canacinta area during the afternoon of March 23, when he was surprised by a truck accessing the entrance to the gas station. Apparently, the driver of a beige Jeep-type truck did not notice the cyclist.
The victim was attended by Red Cross personnel, prior to being evaluated by Chapala Fire Department personnel, while a traffic police officer investigated the accident.
Translated by Nita Rudy
The pickup truck hit the vehicle from behind
According to the driver of the red car, he was driving along the highway when he was suddenly hit from behind by the pickup truck, apparently due to an oversight of the other driver who failed to brake. His car suffered damages to the hood and spilled antifreeze, while the pickup truck suffered minor damages.
The mishap caused a traffic jam for motorists who were driving from Jocotepec to Chapala.
Translated by Sandy Britton
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