TORONTO — A Quebec truck driver has been charged by Ontario Provincial Police after a wheel from his transport trailer rolled across eight lanes of Hwy. 401 just north of Toronto and hit two minivans.

No one was reported to be seriously hurt, although there was extensive damage to both minivans, according to the Toronto Star.

Kalsana Bakhsish Singh, 42, of Lasalle, Que. was charged with a front wheel hub detaching from a commercial motor vehicle and operating an unsafe commercial motor vehicle.

The truck was taken to a nearby Ministry of Transportation yard, where it was found to have several mechanical defects, including brakes out-of-adjustment, the Star reported. It was placed out-of-service.

In 2006, a 41-year-old Oakville woman was killed after her car was hit by a truck tire on the Queen Elizabeth Way near Oakville.

Originally enacted in response to several highly publicized wheel-offs in the mid-1990s, Ontario has an absolute liability provision in the Highway Traffic Act that automatically affixes guilt and denies truck owners a defence of due diligence in the event of a wheel separation from a commercial vehicle.

The provision, which carries a penalty of up to $50,000, has survived several court challenges by trucking companies over the years.