The Ontario Safety League is calling on tire installation to be regulated by the province for private motor vehicles as it is for commercial vehicles.
OSL president Brian Patterson tells NEWSTALK 1010 that anybody installing winter or all season tires should understand the physics behind it, to prevent wheels flying off vehicles on highways, something that can be deadly.
Video from a listener shows a wheel coming off an SUV on Hwy 407 over the weekend. In this case, police say no one was injured. The OPP confirm that it was a recently installed winter tire.
WATCH: A NEWSTALK 1010 listener took this video of a wheel flying off an SUV on Hwy 407:
Patterson says some garages hire people with minimal skill sets and have them supervised while they are installing tires. He questions, though, whether proper supervision is done when there is a rush of drivers coming in to have their tires changed.
He points out that drivers don't even have to go to a professional garage. Patterson says he's seen flyers in his neighbourhood from someone offering to come to your house to change your tires for $25, and who knows what skill set that person has.
He says any installer should be certified by the province.
"There (are regulations) for commercial vehicles and there's no reason why you couldn't extend that down to private motor vehicles, and most garages should be able to comply with new regulations," Patterson says.
"But as soon as you put volume in, and dollars, for some locations, it gets in the way."
Patterson adds there should also be education for drivers to understand the importance of coming back 48 hours after getting new tires to have wheels re-tightened. He says only about 25 per cent of people go back to their garage to do so.
Transportation minister Steven Del Duca tells NEWSTALK 1010 he will "take a look" at the safety league's concerns.
Reporter @JustineLewkowic says the transportation minister promises to "take a look" at concerns over winter tire installation pic.twitter.com/9q4cgqisSf
— NEWSTALK1010 (@NEWSTALK1010) November 22, 2016