Eastern Ontario driver parks on fast-lane shoulder on Hwy 401 to swap tires, OPP lay charges

An eastern Ontario driver is facing charges after they pulled over on the fast-lane shoulder of Highway 401 Saturday near the Town of Prescott. (OPP/ X)

An eastern Ontario driver is facing charges after they pulled over on the fast-lane shoulder of Highway 401 Saturday near the Town of Prescott, according to the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).

Police say the driver parked the car after two of his tires failed while driving on the highway. They say when the first tire blew, the driver kept going until the second one failed. That was when they parked the car on the fast-lane shoulder of the highway and went to a nearby store to buy a set of four new tires.

"Grenville OPP was required to stand-by for safety as traffic backed up for quite some time before the issue was resolved," the OPP said in a post on X Sunday.

The driver is facing the following charges:

• Stop vehicle on highway where prohibited

• Non-authorized driving on paved shoulder

• Park on highway - interfere with traffic.

Police are reminding people to always stop their vehicles on the right, as far as possible, when faced with an emergency while on the highway.

"This will protect yourself and any service that needs to attend to assist you," reads the post.