Driver charged after loose wheel strikes SUV on Hwy. 401, injuring two people

Chopper 24 captures the scene over Highway 401 in Clarington after a loose tire struck a vehicle in live lanes.

Highway 401 in Clarington, Ont., is fully reopened after a loose tire came off a vehicle and hit a passing SUV, sending two people to hospital.

Earlier on Monday, provincial police said the westbound lanes were closed at Newtonville Road after an eastbound vehicle’s tire popped off and veered into the westbound lanes at around 11:30 a.m. The tire then struck an SUV.

The tire then struck an SUV. The vehicle’s two occupants, a man and woman in their 70s, sustained serious and minor injuries, police said. The woman was airlifted to a trauma centre, Ontario Provincial Police said.

Footage from the scene show that most of the SUV’s windshield is smashed, and parts of its roof are crumpled.

“The tire and wheel assembly bounced across the lanes, colliding into the occupant compartment, crushing the roof down into the occupant space, resulting in those serious injuries,” OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said in a video posted online.

Schmidt says the driver of the eastbound vehicle has been charged with having detached parts coming from their vehicle.

The eastbound lanes were initially closed but have since reopened.

Shortly after 3 p.m., all roads reopened.