A Quebec mother says she’s in shock after almost losing control of her vehicle, with her three young children inside, because someone loosened the lug nuts on her tires. “I felt just in shock,” Léonie Pelletier tells CTV News. “I can’t believe someone did that on purpose. It’s so dangerous. I had my kids with me. I was so emotional. It could have been way worse.” She explains that on Monday morning, she and her family were driving home to the Eastern Townships from her mother’s cottage up north when they heard an odd noise. “I said to my boyfriend, ‘Go on the side of the road. There’s something going on,’” Pelletier recalls. “At the same time, someone came to the side of the car and told us, ‘You have to stop the car.’” Though they were on Highway 10 at the time, she says they immediately pulled over and got out of the SUV to try to figure out what was going on. “The guy said, ‘you almost lost your wheel. You can’t take the road again,’” she said. “We did a round of the car and we saw that four of the five bolts were off on the left side of the car.” Pelletier says she first suspected her mechanic, as she changed her tires last week. “They told me yesterday, ‘no, it’s the lug nut challenge,’ that I had never heard about,” she said. “There were really four bolts that were completely off, not even loose. It was pretty scary.” The Lug Nut Challenge is a dangerous social media trend, originating on TikTok, where people secretly loosen or remove the lug nuts, or bolts, on the wheels of parked vehicles. Tampering with another person’s vehicle is a serious crime, though people often film themselves doing the challenge. According to the Canadian Criminal Code, a person could be charged with criminal negligence if they show “wanton or reckless disregard for the lives or safety of other persons.” If the act causes bodily harm, the maximum penalty is 10 years; if it causes death, the maximum penalty is life imprisonment. Pelletier says after speaking with her mechanic, he told her she was lucky because if her SUV had hit a pothole, the wheel could have completely detached. “It’s crazy. I don’t think teenagers realize the extent of how dangerous that is. It’s really scary,” she said. “I feel like they all want their minute of glory on social media, but that’s so wrong. So dangerous. I hope parents have a good talk with their teenagers.” READ MORE: She adds that it took several hours to organize a tow truck and call an Uber to take her children home, but everyone is now safe. “My two oldest were freaking out. They knew there was something going on,” said Pelletier. “It was quite a nightmare... My baby was crying. He didn’t understand. He was stuck in the car and obviously, he wanted to come out of his seat, but we’re on the 10, so we couldn’t just come out of the car.”
