A close call between a loose truck tire and a stopped vehicle in Barrie’s south end has police reminding drivers to check their tire nuts.
On Thursday, Aug. 12 at 2 p.m., a west-bound dump truck lost a set of trailer tires on Mapleview Dr. E. The tires struck a car stopped at a traffic light at Madeline Drive causing significant damage before rolling to a rest in a nearby field.
There were no injuries as a result of the incident. There are now charges pending against the truck driver and the trucking company.
“We can be thankful, because when you’re dealing with a set of tires that size on a vehicle that’s travelling, we’ve certainly seen in the past these wheel-separations causing death,” said Peter Leon, communications co-ordinator with the Barrie police. “This is why it’s so important when people change tires and they are told to come back and have the nuts torqued, they do so.”
“As soon as one of the fasteners fails, it becomes a stress on the other nuts and bolts that are there. Ultimately that can result in the wheel separation,” said Leon.
Police officials declined to provide the name of the trucking company.
Charges that can be laid with regards to wheel separation or anything being shed from a commercial motor vehicle carry fines that range from $2,000 to $50,000.
Section 84 of the Highway Traffic Act contains a number of charges that deal specifically with wheel-related separation and hold the driver, owner and technician accountable when there is a failure and a separation occurs.
“There could be other charges as well,” said Leon. “It’s not just the driver. It can also be the owner of the company and the person who serviced the vehicle.”
