Quebec is toughening its tone towards motorists who break the law in school zones… and beyond. A bill tabled on the last day of the session by Geneviève Guilbault provides for the imposition of a speed limit of 30 km/h near all schools and the multiplication of photo radars.
Almost a year ago to the day, in Montreal, a seven-year-old girl who had just arrived from Ukraine died on her way to school, hit by a motorist. Twelve months later, the Quebec government clarified its intention to strengthen the Road Safety Code.
Bill 48 tabled Friday by the Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault, provides for a series of measures targeting school zones. If adopted as is, it will automatically lower the speed limit — currently set at 50 km/h maximum — to 30 km/h around schools. It will also allow the installation in these sectors, but also everywhere else, of a greater number of photo radars.
When submitting his Road Safety Action Plan last August, Mme Guilbault had affirmed that it was necessary to “significantly” increase the number of radars on the roads. There are currently around fifty.
According to the provisions of Bill 48, it is the Minister of Transport who would designate the places where she wishes to install more of these devices. The legislative text also provides for an increase in the value of fines given for “unsafe behavior towards certain vulnerable users”.
Last year, a compilation of Duty had made it possible to observe that the number of tickets issued in school zones in Montreal had been cut in half from 2018 to 2022. In Quebec, a similar observation could be made.
Minister Guilbault had already mentioned a tightening of the Highway Code this year.
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