Quebec drivers warn of loose lug nuts amid social media challenge concerns
Posted October 16, 2026 4:30 pm.
Léonie Pelletier was driving on Highway 10 on Monday with her three young children when she says another driver signalled for her to pull over.
Four of the five lug nuts on one of her wheels were missing. Pelletier says she reported the incident to police in Bromont.
“The noise was really, really loud, the car was shaking,” Pelletier said. “My heart was racing. My kids were freaking out. We were so, so close to losing a wheel. The garage said that you were a victim of the lug nut challenge.”
Quebecer Raphaël Blais says four of the five lug nuts on his vehicle’s wheels had been loosened, with only the locking lug nut remaining secure. The incident happened in January. Blais says he later learned about reports of a so-called social media “lug nut challenge.”
“If the tire had come off with my partner, who had our two-year-old daughter and four-year-old son in the vehicle, the consequences could have been much greater than simply replacing a tire,” Blais said.
Blais says his wife first heard a strange noise after leaving with their children. He later drove the vehicle himself, initially thinking the sound was caused by ice. At the garage, he says they discovered four loosened lug nuts.
“At least 100 people have contacted me to say that the same thing happened to them,” he said. He added that not all of the individuals who contacted him filed police reports.
In Saint-Lambert, garage owner Martin Ferland showed CityNews how locking lug nuts are designed to require a special key for removal. He says a customer whose car had been serviced just days earlier returned to the garage after hearing a strange noise.
“Four or five days later, she came back because she had a noise in the car. And we saw that the lug nuts were loose on the two left wheels, and we didn’t even have to take off the wheels on the car to do that job,” Ferland said.
Longueuil police have received reports of eight potential cases this year. Three resulted in collisions after a wheel came off, though no injuries were reported. Police say they cannot confirm all eight incidents were deliberate or connected to a social media challenge.
Sûreté du Québec spokesperson Valérie Beauchamp says it is aware of the phenomenon across the province, including reports in the Montérégie, Estrie and Centre-du-Québec regions. However, police say the scope of the problem is difficult to quantify. They added that also caution that loose lug nuts can have other explanations, particularly during tire-change season.
Many drivers may simply retighten their lug nuts without reporting what happened, police say. Anyone who suspects their vehicle has been tampered with is encouraged to report it to their local police service.
André Durocher of the CAA-Quebec Foundation says a quick walkaround can help drivers identify potential problems, although a loose lug nut may be difficult to spot by sight alone.
“If you hear anything or feel anything strange with your wheels, just maybe pull over and check it,” Durocher said.
Social media giant TikTok says it does not allow content promoting dangerous behaviour. Searches for known harmful challenges can instead redirect users to safety information. They did not confirm that content associated with the alleged “lug nut challenge” had appeared on its platform. No police agency has confirmed a link between the reported incidents and a TikTok challenge.
“It’s our job as parents to educate our teenagers, make them realize that it is so, so, so dangerous,” Pelletier said.
