Puerto Morelos, Q.R. — Authorities are looking for answers after it was discovered that a 17 year old teen was driving the dump truck that overturned Thursday. Quintana Roo’s branch of the Autonomous Confederation of Workers and Employees of Mexico (CATEM) is being questioned after it was learned a 17 year old was driving the dump truck responsible for the fatal accident.
It has been reported that 17 year old José “N” was behind the wheel and, according to available information, without experience to drive an industrial unit. It has not been made clear if the young driver had a valid license for industrial vehicles.
The head of the Quintana Roo branch of the Confederación Autónoma de Trabajadores y Empleados de México (CATEM) is being questioned as to how an untrained 17 year old could have been allowed to drive an industrial vehicle on a federal highway.
José “N” was arrested unharmed from the scene of the fatal crash Thursday. He is in police custody and facing a string of charges after one person was killed and several others injured in the multi-vehicle highway crash. Relatives of the victims are demanding a thorough investigation.
The United Organized Transporters Movement of the Riviera (Tour) has also weighed in on the accident. José Bizarro Galván, head of the Movimiento de Transportistas Organizados Unidos de la Riviera (Tour), says highway flaggers could have prevented the accident.
The teen driver was heading to a highway construction zone along the federal 307 with a load of fresh asphalt at the time of the accident Thursday.
Bizarro Galván says flagging by National Guard Highways would improve traffic flow in areas where construction is being carried out. He also suggested the work be done at night rather than during the heavy traffic hours of the daytime.
Bizarro Galván says Tour personnel are working with representatives of the Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications and Transport (SICT) at the local level since highway repairs around the state are expected to continue for several more months.
