Driver charged after wheel flew off vehicle on Hwy. 400 last month

A Barrie man is facing a Highway Traffic Act charge after a wheel came off his vehicle on Highway 400 last month and struck another vehicle, seriously injuring the driver.

The incident occurred around 8:30 a.m. on June 12, when a front wheel separated from a vehicle that was headed northbound on Highway 400, north of Highway 89. The wheel bounced along the highway and into the southbound lanes, where it struck a car "head-on," OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt told CBC News at the time.

Images Schmidt posted to Twitter showed the car's front windshield smashed in and major dents in the roof.

The driver, a 29-year-old Barrie woman, was taken by air ambulance to a trauma centre. She suffered non-life-threatening injuries, including multiple facial fractures, according to the OPP.

At the time of the incident, police said the 56-year-old driver of the vehicle that lost the wheel is an off-duty police officer. He is now facing a Highway Traffic Act charge of "detached part."

Such a charge is laid when parts or items from a vehicle fall or detach from the vehicle, Schmidt told CBC News on Wednesday.