• Dash Cam of the Week: It's all downhill from here

    Why, you might ask, would a highway patrol car in Mexico be driving down the freeway with both doors open? Well, whether it’s standard procedure or improvisation by the troopers, the point was to set up a rolling road block behind a runaway rig that’s the unwitting star of this Dash Cam of the Week.
    May 26, 2017
    2 min read

    Why, you might ask, would a highway patrol car in Mexico be driving down the freeway with both doors open? Well, whether it’s standard procedure or improvisation by the troopers, the point was to set up a rolling road block behind a runaway rig that’s the unwitting star of this Dash Cam of the Week.

    The clip shows the terrifying run of the tractor-trailer, brakes ablaze, as the driver slaloms down a curvy, mountainous stretch of Mexican Federal Highway 150D, a toll highway running east from Mexico City through Puebla. The staff here at DCOW were unanimous in thinking we would’ve taken our chances by running off the road very early in the clip—well before hitting speeds of 100 MPH.

    But the driver, after trying to scrub some speed early on, opted to try for the runaway truck lane further down the grade—and he made it. When we first saw the video, we thought the truck had hit a sand-barrel barrier at the end of the emergency lane, but that’s his cargo of paper rolls all around the cab. He’s way lucky they didn’t roll over him. (Not sure about the “fire extinguishers” the troopers are using to douse the brakes.)

    Pro tip: Check your brakes, driver!

    For those who speak Spanish, here’s a local TV news report of the accident. 

    About the Author

    Kevin Jones

    Editor

    Kevin has served as editor-in-chief of Trailer/Body Builders magazine since 2017—just the third editor in the magazine’s 60 years. He is also editorial director for Endeavor Business Media’s Commercial Vehicle group, which includes FleetOwner, Bulk Transporter, Refrigerated Transporter, American Trucker, and Fleet Maintenance magazines and websites.

    Working from Beaufort, S.C., Kevin has covered trucking and manufacturing for nearly 20 years. His writing and commentary about the trucking industry and, previously, business and government, has been recognized with numerous state, regional, and national journalism awards.

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