A driver was taken to hospital after a sedan was severely damaged by a detached wheel from a tractor trailer on Highway 401 in Pickering on Thursday afternoon.
The incident occurred around 12:35 p.m. in the westbound lanes near Brock Road, when a wheel came off a commercial motor vehicle trailer travelling in the eastbound lanes and struck the sedan. The impact crushed the car, sending the driver to hospital. The extent of the driver’s injuries has not been disclosed.
The tractor trailer driver was charged with several offences, including operating a vehicle with a major defect, failing to record a defect during a daily inspection, operating an unsecured load, and using a defective or damaged tiedown.
This marked the second flying-wheel incident on Highway 401 that day. Earlier in the morning, a dual wheel separated from a tow truck in the eastbound lanes near Liverpool Road. No injuries were reported from that incident.