Flying tractor-trailer wheel kills van driver on Ottawa highway
Gennadi Brianski, 50, from Carleton Place, Ont., pronounced dead at the scene
A tractor-trailer driver and his employer have been charged after a dual wheel fell off the truck early Friday morning in Ottawa and struck a cargo van on the windshield, killing the driver instantly.
The tractor-trailer was heading west just before 6 a.m. ET on Highway 417 near Carling Avenue when the driver noticed smoke coming from the wheels and began to slow down, according to Ontario Provincial Police Const. Eric Booth.
"As he was pulling over, a set of wheels from the trailer comes unattached, bounces across three lanes of roadway, goes over the centre median and then lands right in the windshield of a van as it's travelling eastbound in the far right-hand lane," Booth said.
The force of the crash tore most of the cargo van's roof off and the driver was killed instantly, Booth said.
Victim from Carleton Place, Ont.
The driver of the van, Gennadi Brianski, 50, from Carleton Place, Ont., was pronounced dead at the scene.
Two other vehicles that swerved to avoid the cargo van were involved in a minor crash.
The driver of another vehicle suffered a minor injury and did not need to be taken to hospital.
The tractor-trailer came to a stop on the westbound shoulder and was later escorted off the highway by police.
Ottawa-based ICB Food Distribution, the company that owns the truck, has been charged with operating an unsafe commercial vehicle, and the driver of the truck, a Gatineau, Que., man, has been charged with driving with a detached part, Booth said. A court appearance is scheduled for March 31.
"This doesn't happen as much as it used to," Booth said. "A number of years ago, the province set up guidelines and made it a more serious offence for a wheel to come off, and made the owners of the vehicles liable as well as the mechanics.
"Just regular maintenance, that's all it comes down to, maintaining the vehicle properly … on a regular basis. That's why it's so important for the walk-around in the morning, to have a pre-check on the vehicle."
The driver of the tractor-trailer had done a pre-trip inspection before the Friday morning incident, Booth said.
