The tyre that hit the white Toyota van on Hume Highway on Wednesday, April 19. Photo: Traffic and Highway Patrol Command — NSW Police Force
A male driver struck by a flying tyre was lucky not to suffer very serious injuries on the Hume Highway at Coolalie Road on Wednesday, April 19.
The driver of a white Toyota van, a 43-year-old from Merrylands in Sydney, suffered abdominal injuries and was airlifted to Canberra Hospital.
Police said the injuries were not life-threatening and the man was discharged on Wednesday night.
The accident occurred about noon after a northbound vehicle, a Toyota LandCruiser towing a caravan, collided with an abandoned utility parked on the median strip with the tyre in its tray.
Police said they believed the collision forced the tyre out of the utility tray and onto the southbound lanes where it hit and smashed the van’s windscreen.
The abandoned utility had been involved in an accident at that spot two weeks prior.
Police said it appeared the driver of the LandCruiser, a 70-year-old female, veered off the highway onto the median strip before hitting the abandoned utility. The cause of the LandCruiser driver’s apparent action is unknown at this stage.
The RMS and emergency services attended the scene where southbound lanes were closed and traffic was diverted onto Yass Valley Way and Barton Highway.
Northbound lanes remained opened, but motorists were advised to exercise caution past the crash site.
The LandCruiser’s female driver and passenger were not injured.
Police and emergency services remained at the site until about 5.20pm to divert traffic.
The Hume Local Area Command is working towards determining the cause and any relevant traffic-related offences.