This week in Montreal, a seven-year-old girl was fatally struck by a motorist. This tragedy must ensure that the authorities finally act on the behavior of motorists.
You only have to hit the road, if only in our neighborhoods, to realize that, for several years, motorists no longer respect the highway safety code.
Right in front of my house, there is a mandatory stop that nobody does, I witness vehicles that don’t even slow down every day! However, I live in a residential area where children and many walkers walk. While driving in my neighborhood, I was closely followed and honked because I respect the speed limit!
Speeding at the wheel has become the norm, you have to drive fast, very fast even, otherwise you get stuck and harassed by other motorists. I always wonder what people have in mind driving so fast and endangering their own lives and those of others.
Not to mention the drivers who have turned their vehicle into a noisy sports car and who believe that the highways and roads of our neighborhoods have become race tracks. Reading the Highway Safety Code, I see that the fines are minimal and the consequences unconvincing. We understand then that many motorists are not embarrassed to be stopped by the police.
When there are police, because they are rare on our roads, I don’t see them often. On the Autoroute des Laurentides, a radar is permanently installed. Signs warn us a few kilometers before its presence. Again, I saw many motorists driving at breakneck speed, not at all concerned about receiving a ticket.
Shouldn’t we then make motorists more responsible? By increasing the cost of fines, but also by putting in place a mechanism that would make the culprits pay more out of their own pocket for the damage caused by an accident?
I often hear: “It doesn’t matter if I have an accident, the insurance will pay. “It seems to me that we maintain a disempowerment of the driver.
It would be necessary for the leaders of the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec and the Minister of Transport to get out of their limousine and drive on the roads of Quebec to see the many dangerous behaviors of motorists: swaying on the highways, excessive speed , following a vehicle too closely, etc.
I am aware that there is no miracle solution, but one thing is certain: we must take action to find solutions in order to secure the population who use the roads of Quebec. It seems to me that the Wild West on our roads has lasted long enough!