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Port police brief committee on rising commercial motor vehicle crashes and response burden
Summary
Lieutenant Luis Sotelo told the committee the Port Division recorded 1,517 commercial motor vehicle accidents in 2024 and 1,925 in 2025; year-to-date totals suggest the division is on pace for about 1,600 crashes in 2026, and closures at the World Trade Bridge require multi‑unit responses and traffic diversion plans.
Lieutenant Luis Sotelo of the Laredo Police Port Division told the committee the department counted 1,517 commercial motor vehicle accidents in 2024 and 1,925 in 2025, with 803 crashes recorded through June 30, 2026.
"For 2024, there was a total of 1,517 commercial motor vehicle accidents. For 2025, there was 1,925. And year to date, as of, June 30, we have, 803 motor vehicle accidents," Sotelo said. He said the year‑to‑date pace would put the division on track for roughly 1,600 commercial‑vehicle crashes this year.
Sotelo described the department's operational response: an average of two officers respond to a commercial motor vehicle call, although some incidents required as many as eight units when traffic control is needed. "On average, it takes about a 102 to cure each, commercial vehicle accident. This is an average. So it's 1 hour and 41 minutes to cure the call for commercial motor vehicle accidents," he said.
He also described recurring closures near the World Trade Bridge and the practice of diverting westbound truck traffic off the access road ahead of the I‑35 overpass to keep traffic moving and prevent long truck queues that can cascade onto other local arteries. The lieutenant said officers and community service officers are used to direct traffic at ramp closures and that closures are intended to minimize disruption to noncommercial travelers.
Committee members asked for context: several requested comparative totals (the total number of all accidents) so the committee can calculate the percentage involving commercial vehicles. Sotelo agreed to provide the overall crash totals for the same years by email before the next meeting.
The chair and members also asked whether the department tracks accidents by license‑plate origin (U.S. vs. Mexican plates) and were told the current reporting system does not automatically generate that data and that staff would need to review individual reports to produce it.
The committee thanked Sotelo for the briefing and requested the percentage breakdown and any additional response‑time metrics at a future meeting.
