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I had that happen - car in the next line just ahead of me lost a rear wheel. Luckily I was close so it never bounced. It simply hit the front of my car, went under, and launched me over it.
happened to me. I did a porsche brake caliper upgrade to my Audi and I forgot to torque down my driver wheel. luckily I was slowing down in a remote area because something didn't feel right and the wheel rolled into the forrest. the guy behind must have been wondering why I was slowing down in the middle of nowhere.
This used to be common, in the days of multi-piece or separate-rim commercial wheels. The hub and spokes were usually cast iron, and a rim with the tire was fitted to it and held by clamps. (You still see them on antique trucks; I think they are now completely outlawed on US roads otherwise). They became known as "killer wheels" for their tendency to come loose and fly into adjoining traffic, which they did far too often because setting and tightening the clamps correctly was a fussy process. A quick tire-change by the side of the road, an improperly set rim or failure to correctly torque down the clamps, and some tourist from Nebraska got a 75-pound tire/rim sandwich for his last meal.
There's a story about Bill Vukovich or one of that era racers, who suddenly pulled off the track while leading or still in contention, and refused to go back out. The crew thought he was nuts until a wheel fell off while they were pushing the car onto a trailer.
My dad and I were in the family's humongous '70s era station wagon sitting at a stoplight at the bottom of a long gradual hill. Behind us, halfway up the hill, an industrial-sized garbage truck waiting at a cross street lost an entire wheel; rim and all. The thing rolled down the hill picking up speed as we watched unable to move, tore the back bumper off the wagon, hit the curb and went airborne, flew across a parking lot, and crashed through a store's plate glass window.
Yeah, victimized by another one of those "drive it until the wheels fall off" owners.
MIght try READING the article....It was a semi trailer....
The Department of Transportation says a tractor trailer was traveling on NY 231, which crosses over Sunrise Highway, when it lost one or possibly two tires.
Driver believes his loose tire was involved in fatal crash, police say
A driver who believes his tire was the one that crashed into a car and killed another driver on Sunrise Highway has come forward and is cooperating with police, authorities said.
Suffolk County police said Saturday that Joseph Nickel, 48, of Islip, contacted them to say he was driving a 2002 Ford F-350 pickup at 2:15 p.m. Thursday while towing a 2004 Ringo trailer heading east on Sunrise Highway and later noticed he was missing a tire.
David Dorazio, 60, of Lindenhurst, was driving west on Sunrise Highway near Exit 39 in West Babylon when a tire struck his Saturn sedan Thursday afternoon, killing him, and then hit an SUV on the highway. No one was injured in the SUV.
Police said Nickel is cooperating and his truck and trailer were impounded for a safety check as part of the investigation. Authorities said Saturday he has not been charged with any crimes or vehicle violations.
While sad unless something turns up there isn't any sort of criminal charge to book the guy on. Even if local DA does try to come up with something doubt if a court would convict, and or said conviction would withstand appeal.
Now OTOH civil action by the deceased man's family or estate is another matter. If the guy was a family man with wife and kids, then all bets are off.
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Scary. I'm on Sunrise Highway often enough.
