At least 105 people lost their lives in 92 fatal accidents that occurred on Quebec roads between June and August, an increase from last year, according to an in-house report from the Log.
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Nearly half of the victims (49) were in a car or light truck when the tragedy occurred, followed closely by motorcyclists (29). Pedestrians also suffered particularly this summer, when 17 of them lost their lives.
This sad toll, which surpasses that of last year when 94 people were victims of the road, could however increase. A total of 22 individuals were still considered to be in critical condition at the time of this writing.
“Summer is always the deadliest time on the roads. People tend to drive faster, there are more opportunities to party and, unlike in winter, there are no snowbanks to cushion the blow,” explains the spokesperson for the Société d’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) Gino Desrosiers.
Constant decrease
However, Mr. Desrosiers is not particularly worried about the data identified by The newspaper. He points out that compared to the last five years, the number of deaths observed on Quebec roads has remained relatively stable (see below).
And on the scale of a few decades, we observe a constant decrease in these fatal collisions, he says, while the number of vehicles on the roads has exploded.
“Just in the last two years, we have had an increase of 20,000 new motorcycle licenses in circulation out of a total of 215,000. However, the number of deaths has increased very little,” confirms Sylvain Bergeron, president of the Fédération des Quebec motorcyclists.
For Gino Desrosiers, it is a combination of awareness campaigns, stricter laws and more police interventions that has improved the situation.
No better drivers
Raising awareness among motorists has its limits, however, points out Julien Dufort, an engineer with Polytechnique Montréal’s road safety team. For him, its impact on the balance sheet in recent years is rather slight and Quebecers would not necessarily drive better than 20 or 30 years ago.
“The most decisive factors are above all the safety within the vehicles themselves, which has improved. The same goes for the treatment of road victims, both in terms of transport to hospital and hospital care, ”he says.
“It is becoming more and more difficult to make gains with awareness campaigns, agrees for his part Gino Desrosiers. The more we reduce the number of victims, the more we arrive in the hard core [des conducteurs aux mauvais comportements]. »
MOST DEADLY REGIONS
A sad record
june | August 2022
Dead: 105*
Fatal accidents: 92*
Victims still in critical condition: 22
Vehicle type:
- Car and light truck: 48
- Motorcycle and moped: 29
- Bicycle: 2
- Pedestrian: 17
- MTB: 5
- Others: 4
Source: According to an in-house census of the Journal
Previous balance sheets
dead
- 2021: 94
- 2020: 116
- 2019: 110
- 2018: 120
- 2017: 114
Source: SAAQ