A 29-year-old Barrie woman was airlifted to a Toronto trauma centre with serious injuries Wednesday morning on Highway 400 after a northbound vehicle lost its wheel and struck her car in the southbound lanes.
The incident happened south of Barrie around 8:30 a.m., between Highway 89 and Innisfil Beach Road.
"The front steering axle came off of the vehicle, bounced over the highway and entered the southbound lanes where it came into contact head-on with another vehicle that was travelling southbound," said OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt.
"This is obviously a very serious situation we have here," he added.
The errant wheel struck the passenger area and hood of the woman's Volkswagen and then ricocheted off into the field or ditch.
Around noon, Schmidt said officers were still searching the area.
"We are looking for the wheel to see where it ended up and that will be part of the investigation," he said.
Lanes in both directions were closed for the investigation and to remove the vehicles, but were re-opened around noon.
Wheel separations happen with very little warning and often soon after they were installed.
— Sgt Kerry Schmidt (@OPP_HSD) June 12, 2019
A best practice is to have your fasteners re-tourqued after driving a short distance#CheckYourNuts pic.twitter.com/1oq6W7XJwi
