(Ange-Gardien) When a deadly high-speed collision occurred a few meters from her house last fall, Stephanie Meunier was shocked – but not surprised.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
“On this road, we have no sense of security,” she says. The speed is staggering and collisions are frequent. It doesn’t stop. »
On the evening of October 16, a mother of four lost her life with her son in a violent collision on Route 235, in Ange-Gardien, in Montérégie. Geneviève Lapointe, 45, and her son Isaac Lapointe, 8, did not survive the head-on collision involving their car and a red van, which occurred during a heavy downpour. The Sûreté du Québec is conducting an investigation to understand the circumstances of the tragedy.
A year earlier, on October 20, 2020, a man in his twenties also lost his life in a high-speed collision on Rang Séraphine, perpendicular to Route 235. No less than 46 collisions occurred on Route 235 in the sector between 2016 and 2021, of which 13 caused minor or serious injuries, according to data from the Ministry of Transport.
Speed limits are 90 km/h on route 235 and 80 km/h on rang Séraphine. Mother of two children and pregnant with a third, Stéphanie Meunier finds it hard to understand why speeds comparable to those of a highway are allowed in an environment that does not offer the protections of a fast lane, and which attracts more and more young families.
“We are in the countryside, but we never go out for a walk and I never let my children take their bikes,” says the one who has lived there for 10 years.
Even picking up the mail at the post office box is unpleasant, because the cars pass you by at 80 km/h. We want the Department to reduce speed limits. That does not make any sense.
Stéphanie Meunier, resident of Ange-Gardien
Diane and Roger Morneau, who have lived in the neighboring house for 42 years, never go for a walk either. “It’s going way too fast to take a walk,” says M.me Morneau.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Roger Morneau playing with his dogs in front of his house located at the intersection of route 235 and rang Séraphine, in Ange-Gardien
In 2019, a motorist drove straight past the corner of rang Séraphine and route 235, and crashed into his car which was parked in his driveway. “It was 7 p.m. when it happened. Lucky I wasn’t near my car,” she said.
Fatal collisions on the rise in Quebec
In 2021, the number of fatal collisions increased compared to 2020 on the road network where the Sûreté du Québec patrols. There were 245 fatal collisions, compared to 231 during the previous 12 months. In Montérégie, where Route 235 is located, the number of fatal collisions fell from 26 in 2020 to 40 last year.
The root cause is reckless driving and speeding, which is present in 25% of fatal collisions. This is followed by driving while impaired by alcohol, drugs or fatigue (14%), followed by inattention or distraction (7%).
Marie-Soleil Cloutier, professor at the Center Urbanization Culture Société of the National Institute for Scientific Research (INRS), notes that it is “difficult” to have the speed limit reduced on a road of the Ministry of Transport, and this, even when the local population calls for it.
“The MTQ is a big boat to turn around,” she said. But the practices have to change, because the ways of doing things in road safety have changed. Socially, speed is also much less accepted than before. »
Mme Cloutier points out that with urban sprawl, a road that once crossed a cornfield can now serve new residential neighborhoods.
“We now have people living on these roads. Do we want to allow 90 km/h in a residential area, with people entering and leaving their homes? With teenagers who want to go to their friend’s house by bike? We want to encourage walking and active travel, but when you’re walking on an almost non-existent shoulder and the traffic is going 90 km/h, it’s clearly not suitable. »
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Residents of the area are asking the Ministry of Transport to reduce the speed limits, which are 90 km/h on route 235 and 80 km/h on rang Séraphine.
Mme Cloutier would like the coexistence of different road users to become an important criterion in the eyes of the Ministry. “It has to be at the top of the list, not in the footnotes. In that sense, it moves, but it doesn’t move quickly. »
At the MTQ, spokesperson Marie-Michelle Pilon notes that the Department “deplores the fatal accident that occurred on October 16 on Route 235 in Ange-Gardien. The coroner’s inquest is ongoing and the Department is cooperating with it. And according to the conclusions of this investigation, if recommendations are addressed to the Ministry, the latter will take note of them, analyze them and take additional actions if necessary,” she said, adding that a meeting with the municipality is in preparation in order to to discuss certain issues relating to Route 235 in Ange-Gardien.
The mayor of the municipality of Ange-Gardien, Yvan Pinsonneault, did not respond to our interview requests.
Nicolas Ryan, director of public affairs at CAA-Quebec, notes that “every death on the road is one death too many”, and that the higher the speed, the more serious the loss of control of a vehicle can be.
“In the case of excessive speed, the kilometers add up, but the risks are multiplied if there is a loss of control or a collision,” he notes.
251,802
Number of tickets for speeding issued in Quebec in 2021 by the Sûreté du Québec. That’s nearly one finding every 2 minutes.
Source: Sûreté du Québec