Dear Friends,
It has been an adventurous time this past while. Earthquake, accident and even a short stint in a Mexican jail. Read the attched to find out the rest of the story. Below is a detailed explanation from Leonard Janssen, YUGO's Executive Director of the accident.
In His Service,
Rod & Cheryl
Hello All,
We have a new driving rule for all YUGO drivers in Mexico: Never follow another driver who stops immediately on the highway to avoid hitting a chihuahua! On Saturday at about 4pm we were hauling some of our materials back to Tijuana from our Mexicali outreach conferences. I was following Rod in our "new" 1977 GMC motorhome. Rod was driving our 1992 Ford van loaded with a big grill and several ice chests full of left over food, etc. We were going between 50 and 60 mph on the four lane Boulevard 2000. All of a sudden I saw Rod sliding to a stop and the pickup rolling over in the dirt in the median. When the other driver slammed on his brakes, there was nothing Rod could do except lock up his van and trailer brakes. The collision crushed the front of our van, but neither Rod nor volunteer Joyce Friesen was hurt. There was no one else in the van.
There were about 8 Mexicans in the later model Ford Explorer Sport pickup. It rolled over twice and landed on its wheels. The pickup bed and front end were thoroughly thrashed, but the passenger compartment did not collapse, protecting the passengers really well. The three children were pretty banged up and traumatized and one lady looked like she was in shock. (The paramedics later took her to the hospital on a body board.) We provided water and paper towels so they could clean themselves up. Then, when a couple of the children started feeling cold we got some blankets to give to them.
One of the frustrating things about the location was the lack of cell phone service. I was able to make contact with my wife, Pati, only to tell her that Rod had been in an accident, but was okay, and then the service cut off! Joseph Fruin, another volunteer, was able to get through to his parents but then was cut off.
They don't do things in Mexico as they do in the states. When I told the police that I had frozen food in the van, they let me take anything out that we needed. In fact, one police woman said that we'd better remove anything we really wanted to keep! They didn't do any measurements of skid marks or relative distances of vehicles. They didn't even take any pictures. I agreed with Rod that he might as well get some shots on his own camera. We then asked if they would leave the trailer for us to take back to our Tijuana center. They complied.
When I asked about Rod, the accident investigator said that he would be going with him - to his "office". When they all left, I took off the find a better cell site, leaving Joyce, Joseph and Claudia (a Mexican volunteer) with the trailer. I had to drive 11 miles west to the coast road to find service. I got hold of Chuck Motz to find someone to bring
a vehicle out to tow the trailer back to the center. I also needed to communicate what they had done with Rod. We also needed to get Martin Castro to go with Chuck and Cheryl to Rod's destination to help with all the details. I also made a preliminary report to our accident insurance company.
We were happy when Joseph's father, Andrew, showed up with another van to tow the trailer. He even brought us some pizza. While we were getting the trailer and supplies to Rancho YUGO, Rod was learning about the investigator's office. After seeing it briefly, they put him in a jail cell! They took his clipboard with ID, insurance papers, money, etc., but let him keep his phone(?). Since there was no cell service, he took pictures. He actually got to experience two jail cells in different locations. They gave him the privilege of traveling between the two locations without "esposas" (Spanish for Wives and Mexican for Handcuffs). When Martin Castro finally was able to make contact with the insurance company and they finally made all the determinations, Rod was allowed to come home at about 1:30am. Our Lewis and Lewis insurance, which we have paid for for many years, came through with flying colors, paying 400,000 pesos for all liability (over $33,000!).
Things could have been a lot worse. Praise God they weren't. One of the Mexican officials said that if one of the truck passengers had died, Rod could have gone to prison. We wish he would not have even brought up the subject. It caused some unneeded worry. But, the realization of how the laws are so different across the border shows us how gracious our God is. Praise God that no one was more seriously injured, and that Rod is now able to get "right back in the saddle" to do what he was called to Mexico to do.
Make sure that you always have your paperwork with you while driving in Mexico. Don't follow people who stop for dogs, or make sure they are far ahead of you.
Praise God for His Great Grace,
Leonard
