Tires could have blown if OPP didn’t stop driver with overweight commercial vehicle

An Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officer on patrol yesterday pulled over a noticeably overweight van on Highway 416 in North Grenville.

The rear end of the vehicle was nearly in contact with the road and back-end tires were compressed, almost appearing flat, wrote OPP in a X post.

With help from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, the vehicle was inspected and found to be 1,000 kg overweight on the rear axle, police said.

It was reported that the vehicle’s weight was far more than the tires could handle. According to OPP, the driver was charged and the van taken out of service.

Officers noted that the tires were extremely hot and there is a high chance they would have failed if the driver had continued to their Greater Toronto Area destination.

“Weight ratings on vehicles and tires exist for a reason. Pushing limits on what a vehicle and tires can handle puts everyone at risk, especially on major roadways,” the post reads.

This comes as police have been cracking down on improper commercial vehicles across the nation’s capital and the surrounding area.

In one enforcement blitz conducted with the Ministry of Transportation on July 11, a total of 21 vehicles were inspected and officers found half (52 per cent) needed to be taken out of service for repairs.

A third of the vehicles had licence plates removed for safety reasons, meaning OPP laid a total of 22 charges under the Highway Traffic Act, including inoperative breaks and plates not authorized.