The driver of a semitrailer truck was identified and fined after being filmed making zigzag maneuvers on Ruta PY06, in the district of Trinidad, Itapúa department. Nicolás Bourscheidt Alves received a penalty equivalent to 10 daily minimum wages, for a total reported as between G. 1,170,700 and G. 1,170,770.
The video was recorded on August 20, as the truck descended a stretch of the highway toward Encarnación. The footage shows the semitrailer fishtailing as the vehicle changes direction abruptly; the driver also reportedly activated the headlights repeatedly. A motorcyclist passed very close to the truck and, according to the released footage, narrowly avoided a potentially fatal collision.
Patrulla Caminera, Paraguay’s traffic-enforcement body, identified the driver 12 days after the video was released. The citation was based on Article 66 of Law 5016/2014, which prohibits arbitrarily and abruptly reducing speed, driving in a zigzag pattern, or carrying out capricious and sudden maneuvers.
The practice is known among truck drivers as “quebradinha” or quebra da asa. It involves causing lateral movements in the semitrailer and is associated with a trend documented among carriers in Brazil and Paraguay. Paraguayan authorities are also assessing the possibility that the maneuver was performed to produce content for social media, although that hypothesis has not been confirmed.
The amount of the fine has revived debate about the response to conduct that exposes motorcyclists and other drivers to serious risks. Although it exceeds G. 1 million, the sanction in the reported case is exclusively administrative; the available information indicates neither injuries nor the opening of a criminal investigation.
Patrulla Caminera said enforcement efforts seek to prevent dangerous behavior and urged drivers to consider the safety of other Ruta PY06 users, as the national highway crosses Itapúa and connects the Encarnación area with Minga Guazú.