Ottawa police say a motorcyclist died following a hit-and-run crash in Ottawa’s southwest end on Friday morning. Emergency crews responded to a call for a collision involving a motorcycle and a vehicle at approximately 6 a.m. on West Hunt Club Road near Merivale Road. Friday morning, Ottawa Paramedic Service spokesperson Marc-Antoine Deschamps said the woman driving the motorcycle was treated at the scene for critical injuries and transported to the hospital in life-threatening condition. In a statement on Friday afternoon, police said the motorcyclist, a 21-year-old woman, died from her injuries in hospital. According to police, the vehicle involved in the collision left the scene before police arrived and the Ottawa Police Service’s Fatal Collision Investigation Unit is investigating. Police are asking the public to help locate a dark-coloured SUV with front-end damage, possibly to its right front-end bumper, which is believed to be involved in the crash. Police are also asking any residents, motorists and businesses in the are surrounding the intersection of West Hunt Club Road and Merivale Road to review dashcam, surveillance or doorbell camera footage from around the time of the collision. Hunt Club Road was closed between Merivale and Sunderland/Roydon while police investigated. The road reopened until just before 11:30 a.m. Anyone with information or video footage relevant to the investigation is asked to contact the Fatal Collision Investigation Unit at 613-236-1222, extension 2345. Anonymous can be submitted to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or at crimestoppers.ca. The Ottawa Police Service’s Fatal Collision Investigation Unit has responded to six fatal crashes on Ottawa roads since Sept. 9, according to police. “Investigators continue to identify several common contributing factors, including speeding, impaired driving, distracted driving, careless driving, dangerous driving, and failure to follow the rules of the road,” police said. “Behind every collision statistic is a person, a family, and a community forever affected by loss. Most serious collisions are preventable. We are asking everyone to slow down, put distractions away, and make safety their priority every time they travel on Ottawa’s roads.” There have been 26 traffic-related fatalities on Ottawa roads so far in 2026, including four motorcyclists.
