TORONTO, Ont. – A couple escaped serious injury after a flying wheel hit the roof of their vehicle on Highway 401 east of Leslie Street Friday.

The couple — both 68 years old — were travelling westbound in a Honda Civic shortly before 2:30 p.m. when a wheel flew off a Dodge Ram pickup truck travelling in the eastbound lanes near Leslie Street, OPP Sgt. Dave Woodford said.

The wheel bounced into the westbound lanes and struck the vehicle, crushing the roof and briefly trapping the couple inside.

They were taken to hospital with minor injuries.

“Where it did hit, probably might have saved their lives because it was on the roof where it’s sort of reinforced instead of going through the windshield,” Woodford said.

The truck driver has been charged with operating an unsafe vehicle and for a wheel detaching from a vehicle under the Highway Traffic Act.

Investigators are examining the pickup truck to determine why the wheel detached.