A man died Thursday after his car was hit by a flat tire on Interstate 45 near Spring, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said.
The crash happened around 1:45 p.m. near Louetta Road, an official said.
A tractor-trailer was traveling south when two tires on its left side came off and rolled across the freeway’s center lanes, Gonzalez said.
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A wheel bounced off the center median and struck a vehicle traveling in the northbound lane, Gonzalez said. The tire hit the vehicle against the windshield and went off the roof, Gonzalez said.
The driver died at the scene of the crash, Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez identified the driver as 32-year-old Lee Simon. An 11-year-old boy was in the vehicle with Simon and suffered minor injuries, Gonzalez said.
The other wheel veered onto the service road and struck another vehicle, damaging it, Gonzalez said. The driver of that vehicle was not injured, he said
The crash shut down two lanes of the highway for nearly four hours after the crash.
The truck driver stopped after the accident. No changes related to the incident had been announced as of Thursday night.
john.ferguson@chron.com
