A dashcam video captured a loose tire rolling along Interstate 76 in Philadelphia before it slammed into an SUV.
The incident happened around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday near Girard Avenue, when a Tesla driver traveling westbound on the Schuylkill Expressway had his vehicle’s cameras record the tire bouncing over the median and striking an SUV behind him.
The tire bounced over the concrete highway divider and then slammed into a Nissan Rogue in the left-most lane.
The damage was significant and catastrophic, with the entire front end crumpling in, the windshield smashed, and the bumper unrecognizable.
The Tesla driver witnessed the impact in real time.
He heard the impact but did not realize what had happened until he reviewed the footage.
It was not immediately clear where the tire came from or what vehicle it may have detached from.
Based on the camera footage, it’s possible that this is a semi truck wheel and tire assembly.
The circumstances of the tire’s separation remain under investigation.
State police said they are currently investigating where the tire came from.
No official details about occupant injuries have emerged.
Action News is working to determine whether anyone was injured in the crash.
In the viral moment, the footage showed a rogue tire transformed into a highway projectile that traveled across lanes before making contact with the Nissan. The tire bounced off an overpass structure before striking the vehicle traveling in the left-most westbound lane. The entire sequence unfolded in seconds, captured entirely on the Tesla’s onboard cameras as the vehicle ahead recorded the destruction in real time. The target vehicle’s front end bore the brunt of the impact, with catastrophic deformation visible in the dashcam footage that went viral across news outlets and social media platforms.
Authorities hadn’t confirmed whether anyone inside the SUV was injured as of Wednesday evening.