Police lay charges after two wheel separations the same morning in Northern Ontario
Two separate commercial motor vehicles lost wheels from their trailers within 33 minutes on March 28 in Northern Ontario, leading to charges against both drivers and one carrier.
Members of the Ontario Provincial Police’s Nipigon detachment responded to the first incident at approximately 8:05 a.m., when an officer on patrol observed a commercial vehicle travelling on Highway 11-17 that had lost wheels and tires from its trailer.
A Level 1 commercial vehicle inspection was conducted following the incident.
The 59-year-old driver from Winnipeg, Man., was charged under the Highway Traffic Act with wheel separation involving a commercial motor vehicle and driving a commercial motor vehicle without the required inspection.
The Winnipeg-based company that owns the vehicle was also charged with wheel separation involving a commercial motor vehicle.
Later the same morning, at approximately 8:38 a.m., officers were notified of a southbound commercial vehicle on Highway 11 that had also lost wheels and tires from its trailer.
Police located the vehicle in Beardmore. A subsequent Level 1 inspection revealed multiple defects, resulting in the removal of the vehicle’s plates.
The 24-year-old driver from Brampton, Ont., was charged with driving a commercial vehicle with a detached part, wheel separation involving a commercial motor vehicle, failing to accurately complete an under-vehicle inspection report, and operating an unsafe commercial motor vehicle.
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You know what would help? More enforcement!
Police and MTO shouldn’t be responders, they should be enforcers. We need more inspections and identification of drivers/carriers driving with major faults. If drivers knew that it was highly likely they’d be pulled into a scale or routed by the eyes of law enforcement they’d be forced to do a better job of identifying issues and having them resolved before continuing.
It was reported that about 1600 trucks per day travel through Thunder Bay. Truck News should request a FOIA report on the number of trucks inspected in NW Ontario that was completed by scheduled enforcement activities and not immediate response activities.