Rogue wheel flung from tractor-trailer causes 3-vehicle accident

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A large wheel fell off a commercial truck Tuesday night on Interstate 77 at Arrowood Road, causing three vehicles to crash.

One car caught on fire, and three people were taken to a hospital -- one from each vehicle.

They are expected to be OK.

The truck that caused the accident never stopped, and Highway Patrol troopers are on the lookout for it.

"I have seen these things either break off of axles or of a load and absolutely go through windshields and behead people and cause serious fatalities," Trooper Darren Conrad said.

They said it's possible the driver didn't know, but the driver could still be held responsible for not properly securing the load.

Conrad said he has seen it happen before, once in a 2007 crash that killed a teenager on I-85.

He said it’s a problem that possibly could be caught during regular mandated inspections.

“What we see is a lot of vehicles where the trucks or trailers haven't been inspected in two or three years and that is a federal requirement,” Conrad said.

Conrad said the Highway Patrol is still searching for the truck driver from the crash.

He wants to take a closer look at the truck’s inspection record.

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