Ottawa police say a motorcycle street race may have been the cause of a serious collision that sent one man to hospital with critical injuries early Tuesday morning.
Police say two motorbikes were moving at high speeds eastbound on Hunt Club Road near Bank Street when both riders lost control of their bikes at about 2:45 a.m.
"As they tried to negotiate the corner on Hunt Club and Bank Street, one of them clipped the curb, took out the bike, and his bike took out the rider on the second bike," said Sgt. Mark Gatien of the Ottawa police.
A 29-year-old male was sent to hospital with life threatening injuries. He is now listed in stable but critical condition after an emergency surgery.
The second rider was also transported to hospital. He has since been released with minor injuries.
The crash closed the intersection at Hunt Club Road and Bank Street until about 11:20 a.m.
Police say there has been a rash of street racing across the region. As the weather gets warmer, police say the problem becomes more prevalent.
"When they get together, they like to show off to each other and sometimes, unfortunately, what happened this morning is what happens to some of these high-speed riders," said Gatien.
"At times, they just lose control and have drastic consequences."
Now, the city's police force is teaming up with 19 other police agencies across the province as part of Project Erase, which aims to put an end to street racing.
"We are trying to hit all the cities at one time on eight or 10 different times throughout the summer months and we're going to have zero-tolerance," Gatien told CTV Ottawa.
According to a new Ontario stunt driving law, anyone caught driving more than 50 kilometres over the speed limit automatically gets their vehicle impounded, their license suspended and faces a fine of up to $10,000.
Provincial police credit the law for bringing the number of deaths and collisions on provincial roads down more than five per cent compared to last year.
With a report from CTV Ottawa's John Hua
