A dump truck and trailer exiting Vancouver's busy Cambie Street Bridge lost one of its wheels, which struck an SUV in what police called a potentially dangerous situation.

A set of double tires broke loose from the trailer as it turned onto Expo Boulevard around noon Monday.

Dashcam footage shows the wheel bounding down the road, bouncing off a post and hitting the hood of a white SUV:

Dashcam footage shows a double tire bounding down the road, bouncing off a post and hitting the hood of a white SUV on Nelson Street in Vancouver. The 250-kilogram tire broke loose from a trailer being pulled by a semi on March 19, 2018. 0:56

The 250-kilogram tire eventually tips over and comes to a stop on Nelson Street.

No one was hurt, but witnesses and Vancouver police said it could have been worse.

"It was smoking quite a bit as well, so that caught my attention," said one witness.

The tire weighs about 250 kilograms. (Eric Rankin/CBC)

Officers issued a notice to the driver and an order to tow the trailer for inspection. They said the B.C. Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement agency will also be called to investigate.

The CVSE regulates commercial vehicles in the province to ensure they're keeping up with safety standards. Officers conduct more than 30,000 vehicle inspections each year, issuing violation tickets and taking dangerous vehicles off the road.

Police examined the empty axle after the tire came loose. (Eric Rankin/CBC)

In December, a driver died in a highway crash after a runaway wheel from a semi-trailer came loose. The vehicle crashed into a guardrail after the tire hit his car.

RCMP called it "a very tragic, unexpected, freak incident."

Brad Tremblay of Tremblay Motors, an auto shop in Vancouver, watched the video and says the issue could be an improperly installed brake drum, poor or infrequent servicing or a seized differential that broke.

He says vehicles losing wheels is not an issue mechanics commonly see, but it can also have to do with lug nuts not tightened properly.

"Those lug nuts need to be torqued down to a certain amount and on a big dually trailer … they'd have to be torqued down quite tight," Tremblay said.

Regular servicing will usually catch these issues before they turn dangerous, he added, and warned against home maintenance, especially on old, rusty vehicles in "rough shape."

With files from Eric Rankin