A man has died after his SUV was struck by a pair of tires on a highway north of Vaughan, Ontario Provincial Police say.
Provincial police said the wheels came off a southbound transport truck hauling lumber on Highway 400 near King Road, at approximately 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
One wheel rolled into the northbound lanes, colliding with an SUV. The SUV swerved off the road before coming to a stop in the ditch.
Video from the scene showed the hood, windshield and roof of the SUV were destroyed by the tire, which OPP said likely weighed about 100 pounds.
"It's an incredible amount of damage that's been sustained. Obviously there was no time for the driver to react," OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt told reporters at the scene. “You’re not expecting to see a flying tire coming at you.”
The driver of the SUV was taken to hospital life-threatening condition where he later died.
He has not been publicly identified, but police believe he is a 69-year-old man from Burlington.
Police are now investigation the crash, looking at the vehicles and the maintenance records of the transport truck.
The driver and the company that owns the rig could be charged with a detached wheel offence under the Highway Traffic Act, which carries a maximum penalty of $50,000.
Highway 400 was closed in both directions at King Road as police investigated, but has since reopened.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Tamara Cherry
Serious collision on Hwy400 north of King Road pic.twitter.com/FyU5FoTOPh
— Sgt Kerry Schmidt (@OPP_HSD) January 27, 2016