Runaway tire causes car accident in New York

A terrifying sight was beheld by motorists on Grand Central Parkway on the afternoon of March 11 when a runaway tire injured two people. New York authorities are still in the process of determining where the tire came from. It wreaked havoc on the parkway and sent two people to the hospital following a serious single-car accident. Their investigation has not yet yielded results. 

According to eyewitness and official reports, the tire seemed to come out of nowhere around 2 p.m. The vehicle the tire was attached to was apparently westbound, and the driver is still being sought. The tire bounced over the guardrail into oncoming traffic, smashing into an eastbound car. The two occupants of the car were both injured. 

The 62-year old driver escaped with shoulder injuries, but his 63-year-old passenger was hit in the head and rushed to a hospital with injuries considered critical in severity. The accident caused tremendous backups all over the area with entire swaths of the parkway being closed down. The trouble persisted for the rest of the day. 

In a situation like this, New York police will focus on tracking down the vehicle where the tire originated. Depending on the circumstances, a runaway tire may constitute driver negligence, and it may still be possible to track down the cause of the trouble that led to the tire getting away. If mechanical failure or maintenance error is determined to have been the primary cause for the car accident, the two injured victims will have grounds for a personal injury lawsuit against the driver, the vehicle owner and any other party responsible for the car’s maintenance. 

Source: CBS New York, “2 Injured When Tire Flies Off Vehicle, Smashes Into Oncoming Car On Grand Central Parkway“, March 11, 2016