OPP remind drivers to check their tires after wheels fly off truck on Hwy. 407

Provincial police are reminding drivers to make sure their tires are securely fastened after a set of wheels flew off a truck on Highway 407 near Leslie Street.

Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said the wheels flew off a delivery truck driving in the eastbound lanes and bounced into oncoming traffic in the westbound lanes.

A convertible was struck and ended up rolling several times into a nearby ditch. The driver was not seriously injured and has since been released from hospital. A second vehicle was also struck and sustained minor damage.

“This is the time of year we see an increase in wheel separation because people are installing their winter tires,” Schmidt said. “There is potential that the wheels could become loose after installation because of some settling of the proponents after the vehicle has been driven for a few kilometres.”

Schmidt said the wheels on the truck had been put on about two weeks ago. The driver has been charged with wheel separation and driving an unsafe vehicle.

A second vehicle lost a wheel later on Tuesday afternoon on Hwy. 400. A 22-year-old driver from Bradford was charged with having detached parts.

There have been several incidents of people injured after their vehicles were struck by flying tires, including several this year. A man was critically injured when a tire struck his vehicle on Highway 400 near Highway 89 in May. A couple weeks later, a woman suffered multiple fractures after a tire crashed through her windshield in the same area on the 400.

Wheel seperation from delivery truck EB #Hwy407/Leslie, wheel bounced into WB lanes and collided with another vehicle, fortunately no serious injuries https://t.co/rvN01pPCET

— OPP Highway Safety Division (@OPP_HSD) November 19, 2019