Motorcycle wipeout kills man

A 37-year-old Ottawa man is dead after crashing his motorcycle into a highway sign near the Eagleson Road off-ramp in the eastbound lane of Highway 417 yesterday.
An OPP officer driving past on his way to work spotted a man in the ditch shortly before 6 a.m. yesterday. The man showed no vital signs when the officer found him, and the coroner pronounced him dead at the scene.
“We’re hoping maybe family members will be able to help us narrow down the time, and provide us with a few other details,” said OPP Constable Eric Booth.
Jeffery Romanko, 37, of Kanata was identified as the deceased.
The Eagleson-March Road off-ramp was closed between 6 a.m. and 11 a.m. yesterday while Technical Traffic Collision investigators surveyed the scene.
From the evidence at the scene of the collision, Booth said it appeared the motorcycle – a black Suzuki GSX 1000 cc – was travelling at a high rate of speed when the driver lost control and left the roadway, striking a two-post highway sign.
It appeared the man’s upper body struck the underside of the sign and the right side of the motorcycle smashed into the right post, shattering one of the 6 x 6 wooden beams.
The driver’s body was found 30 metres past the initial collision. The motorcycle was found 100 metres from the point of impact.
Debris from the motorcycle was scattered throughout the ditch along the path of the bike.
Booth said there were a couple of large divots in the grass that would indicate the motorcycle bounced several times.
This is the first motorcycle-related fatality for the Ottawa OPP this season.
The OPP seek witnesses who might have seen the driver last night or early this morning. He was wearing a black jacket and helmet and blue jeans. Witnesses should call the OPP Ottawa detachment at 613-828-9171.
-tim.wieclawski@metronews.ca