Thousands of tickets were issued in the space of a week across Quebec, as part of a new awareness blitz held by the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) which focused on giving priority to pedestrians and vulnerable users.
More than 4,000 tickets were issued during the concerted national “road sharing” operation, which took place from April 26 to May 2 in all regions of the province. One of the most common findings was for “not having given priority to pedestrians”.
According to the SQ, which published a summary report of this annual initiative on Monday, 1,300 operations were carried out, which means that more than three fines were issued on average per one-off intervention. This mainly involves an increased police presence in areas considered accident-prone.
In a press release, the police force assures that “the interventions carried out by the patrol officers aimed to raise awareness among all road users, regardless of the mode of travel, in order to contribute to securing all users of the networks transport “.
“Taking the time to adopt these behaviors helps save lives,” continues the Sûreté du Québec, which reminds that the principle of caution, as defined by the Highway Safety Code, must take precedence at all times, even when you are in a hurry.
Last June, the Automobile Insurance Company (SAAQ) revealed in its annual report that pedestrians are over-represented among victims of road collisions. Last year, 79 of them died on the road network, a jump of 44% in one year and 23% compared to the average of the previous four years. This is the worst record in this area since 2007.
“We are going to change mentalities”
At Vélo Québec, which participated in the organization of the campaign with Piétons Québec, president and general manager Jean-François Rheault welcomes the approach put forward by the police authorities.
“Road safety is everyone’s business, of course, but we have more responsibilities when we are bigger, in the car. And these messages were conveyed in a really interesting way. It is with campaigns like this that we will change mentalities, quietly, but surely,” explains Mr. Rheault.
He notes, however, that Quebec “still has a lot of work to do to ensure that pedestrian priority is respected by everyone.” Last Thursday, a little girl crossing the street to get to her school bus was hit by a cyclist who failed to stop in Le Plateau-Mont-Royal. This is a clear violation of the Road Safety Code that Vélo Québec has denounced across the board.
Nevertheless, “the change in mentality towards public transport and road safety in the broad sense is really taking place everywhere in Quebec,” concludes Mr. Rheault, in a more optimistic tone. “When we talk about sharing the road, today, we feel and see increasingly deep and complex conversations throughout the territory. We are heading in the right direction. »