Holiday Road Toll Rises Across Brazil With Truck and Car-Carrier Crashes Killing Families

Overview

• On PR-170 in Rolândia (PR), six members of one family died in a head-on crash with a truck; a surviving truck passenger said he awoke at the impact as investigators work to determine the cause.
• On BR-040 near João Pinheiro (MG), a car-carrier crossed into oncoming traffic and hit a family car that caught fire, killing two adults and two children in a corridor with repeated recent fatalities.
• A car-carrier overturned on a BR-101 viaduct in Cariacica (ES), causing congestion and minor injuries to the driver as two transported cars fell into a ravine, according to the concessionaire.
• Newly circulated video from BR-101 in Jaguaré (ES) shows a RAM 250 rear-ending a family’s Fiat Palio on December 24, sending it into the opposite lane and killing four; the pickup driver later presented to police and was released after being heard.
• Legal actions include the indictment of a bus driver for homicídio doloso in a June BR-262 crash, the arrest of a driver in Açailândia (MA) with a 1.62 mg/L breath test after a fatal runover, and the detention of a MG-133 motorist who had alcohol detected and an expired license in a deadly crash.