A motorcyclist is dead following a collision with a car in Oshawa on a sunny day with dry roads -- in an area known for speeding and where a radar trap had been operating.
The accident occurred at 2:17 p.m. Wednesday at the intersection of Harmony Road and Adelaide Avenue, which will be closed until about 8 p.m. as police investigate.
Durham Regional Police say the male operator of the motorcycle, said to be 31 years old, was pronounced dead at the scene. However, he was still taken to Lakeridge Hospital.
The rider had been wearing a helmet.
The condition of the 50-year-old driver of the car involved in the collision was also taken to hospital for treatment of minor injuries. However, his car suffered heavy damage as a result of being struck by the motorcycle.
Police had been conducting radar operations in the area. As a result, the service has conducted the province's Special Investigations Unit, which handles cases in which people have been injured or died while in contact with the police.
Witness Ryan Scott said an officer had stepped out to pull the motorcyclist over. "He ended up turning around, coming back up -- ended up crashing into that car," he said.
Deputy Insp. Mitchell Colling of Durham Police said as far as he knows, there was no chase of the motorcyclist. He described police involvement as peripheral.
The Oshawa death is the second serious motorcycle accident in the GTA in the past 24 hours.
Shortly after midnight on Wednesday, Toronto Police were called to Sheppard Avenue East and Twyn Rivers Drive for a single-vehicle accident involving a motorcycle.
The 58-year-old driver lost control, struck the north curb, left the roadway and ended up hitting a fire hydrant, which propelled him off the motorcycle.
He is in serious condition in hospital.
Since Sept. 25, there have been 39 motorcycle accidents in Toronto.
Durham officer charged
In an unrelated incident, a Durham Region Police Service officer has been charged with driving more than 50 kilometres per hour over the speed limit.
Staff Sgt. John Givelas, who was off-duty and driving his own vehicle at the time of the alleged incident on March 9, had been driving in Ajax at the time.
Durham Police spokesperson Dave Selby said the speed limit on the street was 80 kilometres per hour.
Givelas has a court date in late April. He is stationed in Whitby pending the case's outcome.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Tom Hayes and files from The Canadian Press
