A woman was driving along Highway 1 on Thursday when a tire came off a dump truck and struck the front of her vehicle.
Just before 11 a.m., a dump truck was travelling eastbound when two trailer tires came off. One of the tires careened across the median between the highway.
A vehicle in the opposite direction, travelling westbound, was hit head-on by the tire.
Cpl. Michael McLaughlin with BC Highway Patrol says there was "very serious damage" to the vehicle.
Paramedics and police officers headed to the scene east of exit 104: No. 3 Road.
BC Emergency Health Services spokesperson Rachelle Bown says an ambulance with primary care paramedics and an ambulance with advanced care paramedics responded.
"Paramedics provided emergency medical treatment to one patient who was transported to hospital in stable condition,” says Bown.
A woman posted on social media that it was her vehicle that was hit with the tire.
“It was me. No major injuries thankfully,” she wrote.
Officers with Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement (CVSE) along with BC Highway Patrol were on the scene.
McLaughlin says RCMP and CVSE officers have fined the dump truck driver and the company, which are both based in Delta. Nearly $700 in fines have been issued to the 60-year-old male driver, including making a false pre-trip report along with not having a vehicle that is appropriate for the highway.
“The truck has also been removed from the road and a mandatory inspection has been ordered,” says McLaughlin. “That’s going to happen at the truck company’s expense along with any repairs, anywhere in the vehicle, that the inspection discovers.”
The mandatory inspection will likely be in the thousands of dollars.
Neither impairment nor distraction appears to be a factor.
BC Highway Patrol does not take a positive view when there are preventable issues that lead to a collision like this, he adds.
“We can’t have unsafe commercial vehicles on the road,” says McLaughlin.
Traffic was impacted in both directions between Abbotsford and Chilliwack for an hour while police investigated.
Serious incidents on Highway 1
Earlier this month, there were a number of serious crashes on Highway 1.
On Nov. 8, lost control as he was descending the westbound curve and flipped the vehicle over.
An Alberta man, 28, has now been ticketed for driving without care and attention contrary to the Motor Vehicle Act, which is a fine of $368 and six points against his licence.
On Nov. 12, when they got out of their vehicles after a multi-vehicle crash on Highway 1 in Burnaby. At least four vehicles were involved in the crash. Five people were transported to hospital, two with minor injuries and three in serious condition.
On Nov. 22, on Highway 1 near No. 3 Road resulted in a vehicle catching fire and people being injured.
Cpl. Michael McLaughlin with BC Highway Patrol said people were injured, but no further details about how many people or the extent of injuries were provided.
This year alone, commercial vehicles have crashed into bridges or overpasses 14 times on just Highway 1.
Glacier Media reached out to the Ministry of Transportation for a comment on the influx of serious crashes and if they will do more checks of commercial vehicles.
In an emailed statement, the ministry said CVSE examines hundreds of thousands of commercial vehicles every year and works with police on "coordinated spot checks."
"We know that most commercial drivers are professional, drive safely and maintain their vehicles well," the ministry said. "On average, we target more than 25,000 vehicles each year for more thorough safety inspections."
The statement went on to say that "incidents like this are extremely concerning and should never happen on our highways."
Editor's note: This story was updated Nov. 29 with comments from the ministry.
