Dashcam video captured when a tire came off a truck and hit a car, sending the vehicle up in the air in the middle of the 118 Freeway in Chatsworth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR-hLAi7m4o

https://abc7.com/118-freeway-crash-caug ... /13024626/

Jesus that car got tossed! Glad everyone is ok.

I guess wheels flying off cars isn't new. A couple months ago on my way to work I saw a Jeep broken down on the left side of the highway missing a front wheel. Must have just happened because the people were still standing by their car. The wheel was clear on the other side of the highway in the grass a couple hundred feet ahead laterally.

Just as well they were wearing seat belts.

If the Lug Nuts sheared, is this likely to be a manufacturing or design fault or a maintenance/lack of maintenance issue.

Would there be an warning signs, I suspect not.

Some deduct from this that the car is too light. I deduct that the truck is too large (and seems modified).

Looking at some statistics (internal claims, so cant share) this happens often and its almost always bad maintenance (bad work in the garage) or someone who changed tyres themselves. This will be an expensive endeavour for the owner as the insurance company will take regress if he changed the wheels himself.

Non driver myself.

Would changing a wheel be covered in the user manual?.

I'm glad she was OK, but I love how the tire comes back for a second slap.

Aesma wrote:

Some deduct from this that the car is too light. I deduct that the truck is too large (and seems modified).

That’s the good and bad of California. No vehicle inspection means anyone can modify your car as you see fit, even if it’s dangerous. You see wacky racers style mods as well as cars that should have been off the road years ago.

Interesting that the dynamics produced so much vertical movement.

Fluid flow - how about expanding how insurance looks at these sorts of incidents.

frmrCapCadet wrote:

Interesting that the dynamics produced so much vertical movement.

Fluid flow - how about expanding how insurance looks at these sorts of incidents.

Sure, now I am not 100% familiar with local insurance policies but car insurance policies (and liability clauses) are pretty similar globally.

There are a few different cases depending on what happened straight after the incident.

The most straight forward: The victim and the truck driver both stopped, a police report was filed and all the evidence was secured. The victim will contact the insurance of the truck driver and make a claim for the damages on the ground that the truck driver is liable for the damages. The reasoning behind this is pretty simple. Either by law (here I am not sure about California law) or, and here I am very sure, via car liability insurance which will state, that it is the responsibility of the driver to ensure that the vehicle is in driving condition at all times. Losing a wheel during a drive clearly violates the policy putting liability on the driver. Now the insurance of the truck driver will pay for the damages. This is pretty straight forward when all the evidence is there. As the driver of the truck clearly violated the policy the insurance will claim parts or all the damages back from the driver. Now to claim all of the damages back, the driver would have had to handle with intent, which I highly doubt, so the insurance will claim parts of the damages back. If the driver now can prove that the tyre was changed by a third party (for example by presenting the bill for the tyre change), the insurance will claim the damages from said third party. In case of a garage from their company liability insurance or directly from said company if no insurance is present.
One more step would be, that the third party or the driver if he changed the tyres himself claim that it was not their fault and the parts were faulty and the damages should be paid by the manufacturer (and their insurance). For that, they would have to prove that though, which could be hard if the evidence was not secured.

Now there are different other cases:
If the driver of the pickup took off: If they find him, the same as above would go ahead but the insurance could claim all the damages as driving off from an accident is a criminal offence and could show that the driver knew the wheel as not secured safely but still drove.
If they do not find him, a possible comprehensive plus collision insurance would cover the costs for the victim upfront and would then try to find the culprit to recoup the costs from. There would be no big deal for the driver as the evidence shows she was not at fault.

If there is no video evidence and the driver took off, there is still the 5th wheel that will count as evidence towards the collision. Especially because you are not allowed to leave car parts behind on the road. The problem could be, that the insurer of the victim could claim, that she has to be able to brake within reasonable distance and as there is no evidence where the wheel came from she might be stuck with some damages.

If the victim has no additional cover (only the mandatory liability) and the truck driver is gone, but the evidence shows that she is clearly a victim, it could be that there is a special fund to cover such costs. In Europe most countries know such a fund that is filled through a little contribution from every liability insurance fee. This fund is to cover claims against unknown that are not solved.

It was fortunate in the wild situation here no one was killed or injured seriously. Far too often the loss of a wheel from a vehicle has caused deaths and injuries.

mad99 wrote:

Aesma wrote:

Some deduct from this that the car is too light. I deduct that the truck is too large (and seems modified).

That’s the good and bad of California. No vehicle inspection means anyone can modify your car as you see fit, even if it’s dangerous. You see wacky racers style mods as well as cars that should have been off the road years ago.

I did a road trip there and saw a "lifted" truck that was as high as monster truck, like this :



But looking more dinghy and with ladders attached to it.

Fluidflow, thanks.

Here you get the full video, and it looks like that tire was wide and loose as he merged left.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOosn78WsMg

That tire is still rotating forward, so my guess is that the kia hit it perfectly, riding up over it, and go some forward velocity on impact that sort of pulled the car up into the air.

bennett123 wrote:

Just as well they were wearing seat belts.

If the Lug Nuts sheared, is this likely to be a manufacturing or design fault or a maintenance/lack of maintenance issue.

Would there be an warning signs, I suspect not.

The truck was fitted with wheel spacers to widen the track of each axle. These devices throw incredible strain on lugs they are not designed to withstand. This is all on the owner of the truck.

I had a variation on this experience in Portland Oregon decades ago. I was on I-5 southbound when a brand new VW Jetta (temporary plate) lost a rear wheel. I guess to the selling deler a Pre-Delivery Inspection meant "wash it and take the polyethylene off the seats".

It went bouncing all over the place; one could not judge where it would come down next. Cars and trucks ahead of me were doing an automotive ballet and managed to dodge it. I was not so fortunate. I ran right over the top of it and the BOOM! BOOM! noise was frightening! The driver side went up in the air about a foot (30.48cm). I pulled over. A front wheel was crimped but the tire held air, and there was a gash in the driver side rocker panel about 2 feet (61cm) long. I was rattled, but, the car was in one piece.

I went to my appointment, carefully, then took the car to a Chrysler/Plymouth agency for inspection. They replaced the wheel and both driver side tires, which showed signs of damage, aligned the wheels, and sent me on my way, Like that KIA, my car was built like a tank. (If you wonder what it was, use a search engine for "1993 Plymouth Acclaim". Some of you in the UK and EU may recognize it was a variation on a model sold there under the Chrysler badge.)

Gotta admit, that was probably better than a lot of special effects in movies. Geezus!

Aesma wrote:

Some deduct from this that the car is too light. I deduct that the truck is too large (and seems modified).

Vehicle size here is not the issue.

Improper maintenance and modification is the issue.

bennett123 wrote:

Non driver myself.

Would changing a wheel be covered in the user manual?.

Yes. Instructions for changing and rotating tires are included in every car owners manual I have seen.

However, some people forget to do the final tightening of the lug nuts with a torque wrench. Others may tighten them with an impact wrench, which presents a significant risk of over-tightening them. Either could lead to a wheel loss while driving.

Aesma wrote:

mad99 wrote:

Aesma wrote:

Some deduct from this that the car is too light. I deduct that the truck is too large (and seems modified).

That’s the good and bad of California. No vehicle inspection means anyone can modify your car as you see fit, even if it’s dangerous. You see wacky racers style mods as well as cars that should have been off the road years ago.

I did a road trip there and saw a "lifted" truck that was as high as monster truck, like this :



But looking more dinghy and with ladders attached to it.

Pedestrian Safety = 5 stars!

Aesma wrote:

mad99 wrote:

Aesma wrote:

Some deduct from this that the car is too light. I deduct that the truck is too large (and seems modified).

That’s the good and bad of California. No vehicle inspection means anyone can modify your car as you see fit, even if it’s dangerous. You see wacky racers style mods as well as cars that should have been off the road years ago.

I did a road trip there and saw a "lifted" truck that was as high as monster truck, like this :



But looking more dinghy and with ladders attached to it.

How can that even be road legal? It must be at risk of tipping over at the slightest problem. Even here the lifted LandCruisers and others on big fat tyres have no chance of stopping in a hurry and yet the owners drive them like race cars.

I saw videos of the other accident and certainly if the vehicle that lost the wheel was badly modified then it should go back to the owner of that vehicle.

The truck has obviously been modified with a stance and if that resulted in the accident, then I feel that criminal charges need to be brought up if the modifications are not considered street legal.

Kno wrote:

Aesma wrote:

Some deduct from this that the car is too light. I deduct that the truck is too large (and seems modified).

Vehicle size here is not the issue.

Improper maintenance and modification is the issue.

You buy a big truck because of some inadequacy somewhere else in your life, but it's not big enough so you modify it to make it larger.

I'd say size is definitely the issue.

Aesma wrote:

Kno wrote:

Aesma wrote:

Some deduct from this that the car is too light. I deduct that the truck is too large (and seems modified).

Vehicle size here is not the issue.

Improper maintenance and modification is the issue.

You buy a big truck because of some inadequacy somewhere else in your life, but it's not big enough so you modify it to make it larger.

I'd say size is definitely the issue.

You’ve said nothing of value here.

Instead of explaining rationally why vehicle size is the issue (which you can’t, because it’s not) you respond with an arbitrary outdated stereotype that makes you sound like a parrot.

No I don’t drive a lifted truck or care what other people drive (people drive all kinds of vehicles for all kinds of reasons). Just tired of the internet narrative of viewing a situation and reducing it to smooth brain band wagon narrow minded jargon.

Thankfully the conversations I’m experiencing offline have a higher set bar.

Paul Barrett from Deutsche Auto Parts did a quick video about this on Facebook, he's suspecting a failed wheel bearing because later in the accident video, when the wheel continues along and hits the KIA again from behind, you can see that the brake rotor is still attached to the truck wheel itself.

The side airbags deployed while the car was still airborne!

Could be a failed wheel bearing. I had a ‘68 GTO, bearing was making noise while I was trying to get to a shop to be repacked. Didn’t make it, a final grind, out came the wheel and the axle; car would up on 3 wheels and brake drum.

WesternDC6B wrote:

bennett123 wrote:

Just as well they were wearing seat belts.

If the Lug Nuts sheared, is this likely to be a manufacturing or design fault or a maintenance/lack of maintenance issue.

Would there be an warning signs, I suspect not.

The truck was fitted with wheel spacers to widen the track of each axle. These devices throw incredible strain on lugs they are not designed to withstand. This is all on the owner of the truck.

What is the benefit of said wheel spacers? Many pick-ups have that modification in place which to me make it look more "Mighty Tonka" in appearance.

phatfarmlines wrote:

What is the benefit of said wheel spacers? Many pick-ups have that modification in place which to me make it look more "Mighty Tonka" in appearance.

It increases the track (width) of each axle. Why this is desirable I haven't a clue. For the minority of jacked-up and wheel-spacer'd trucks that are ACTUALLY taken off-road, I don't see a benefit. For all I know, it is just an appearance thing.

Appearance changes or enhancements are fine with me as long as they are safe. I, for example, take most of my vehicles to an "old school" pin-striper out near Santa Maria California and get striping and either cellophane pull-away effect paintwork, or sponge-paint work done. Nothing radical, but I end up with a vehicle that gets questions in parking lots, and double-takes at charity car shows. One such was a Chrysler Pacifica mini-van of all things. THAT caused a lot of double-takes, and it even won me a minor trophy. In a few weeks, health permitting, I will likely have the world's only pin-striped and sponge-painted Subaru Ascent.

None of this work in any way affects the safety of my vehicle, or creates stresses on bearings or other components, yet, I end up with something out of the ordinary.

WesternDC6B wrote:

phatfarmlines wrote:

What is the benefit of said wheel spacers? Many pick-ups have that modification in place which to me make it look more "Mighty Tonka" in appearance.

It increases the track (width) of each axle. Why this is desirable I haven't a clue. For the minority of jacked-up and wheel-spacer'd trucks that are ACTUALLY taken off-road, I don't see a benefit. For all I know, it is just an appearance thing.

Appearance changes or enhancements are fine with me as long as they are safe. I, for example, take most of my vehicles to an "old school" pin-striper out near Santa Maria California and get striping and either cellophane pull-away effect paintwork, or sponge-paint work done. Nothing radical, but I end up with a vehicle that gets questions in parking lots, and double-takes at charity car shows. One such was a Chrysler Pacifica mini-van of all things. THAT caused a lot of double-takes, and it even won me a minor trophy. In a few weeks, health permitting, I will likely have the world's only pin-striped and sponge-painted Subaru Ascent.

None of this work in any way affects the safety of my vehicle, or creates stresses on bearings or other components, yet, I end up with something out of the ordinary.

With aftermarket wheels sometimes there are clearance issues at full turn - depending on the set up, spacers alleviate this issue. That said some do it simply for the wider look aesthetic. Quality spacers and quality work shouldn’t be a problem.