A few months ago I made some notes on bus crashes in Mexico and this is how it began:
Fortunately no major bus crashes have occurred in or near Catemaco, Veracruz for several years. That is a wonderful record. Nevertheless bus crashes are daily occurrences in Mexico and are usually barely included in news broadcasts.
(67 died, 23 died, 7 died, etc.- these were mostly inter- village travelers or pilgrims, not worthy of mentioning by occurrence.) The number of bus traffic dead are substantially above the air plane dead of Mexico, but barely receive international mentions, possibly because major bus owners are political tyrannosaurs in Mexico.
Along with the rest of Central and South America, no exact statistics are available on the number of crashes or dead in any of these countries except for the occasional news blurbs in the major newspapers.
And, believe me, there are dozens of crashes every week! Anyone who ever had the chance to ride a third class bus in either Mexico or anywhere in the world will attest to the adrenaline flow incurred by travelling so called "chicken buses", called thus, because of the prevalence of livestock carried on the bus, and the suicidal attitudes of its drivers.
The major bus lines (first & second class) of Mexico have now placed a speed limit on their chauffeurs and created an almost safe sentiment of traveling across Mexico. Just remind the other unregulated bus driving fool traveling 75 miles per hour down the hill with 70 people aboard.
Wednesday night, 7 passengers died after their second class bus plunged off the bridge in Alvarado, 90 km north of Catemaco. That bridge has been a nightmare of construction for more than 3 years, with the only visible results being airconditioned toll collection booths. That bridge also controls beautiful downtown Catemaco's access to the north.
Do a Google search: "Google Search - bus crash mexico -"new mexico" and get a real appreciation for the number of passenger deaths on Mexican highways on this "Dia de Muertos".
