A Conestoga College graduate pursuing a career as a prison guard was killed Tuesday night while trying to avoid a wrong-way vehicle on a rural road near Tavistock.

Police say Jason Ramtahal was driving westbound on Perth Line 26, near Road 109, when he encountered an eastbound compact car that had moved into the westbound lane to pass another vehicle.

Ramtahal was able to avoid colliding with the car by swerving to the shoulder, but lost control and ended up back on the roadway, where his vehicle was hit by a minivan.

While the minivan stayed at the scene, the black car – which police say caused the collision even if it wasn’t directly involved – did not.

“We are attempting to locate the driver … and the vehicle itself,” said Perth County OPP Insp. Kees Wijnands.

The black car may be a Kia or a Honda, Wijnands said.

Daryl Herlick lives near the crash site.

He ran into the police blockade while returning home from work, and says he’s seen “dozens” of near-misses along the same stretch of road in the past.

“I see a lot of close, close calls out here,” he said. “Everybody’s in a hurry. It’s a mess.”

Ramtahal, 26, was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Friends like Jacob Stellings woke up to the news of his death – something Stellings says hits particularly hard because it wasn’t his fault in any way.

“If he’s following the rules of the road, and someone else breaks it … and he still ends up being the one that’s fatally wounded, that’s what’s not fair,” Stellings said.

Stellings said Ramtahal had graduated Conestoga College last year, and was working as a security guard with dreams of one day becoming a correctional officer.

“He was the kind of guy that always had your back – you never had to ask, he was just there,” Stellings said.

“Everything was going great for him.”

A memorial for Ramtahal will be held Thursday night at the college.

Anyone with information about the crash is asked to call the Perth County OPP at 519-393-6123 or contact Crime Stoppers.

With reporting by Leena Latafat