Quebec Provincial Police were busy giving tickets on the Jacques Cartier Bridge, Thursday.
Like they do every year, they are stepping up surveillance on Quebec roads for the construction holidays, which starts Friday until August 6th
Captain Paul Leduc of the SQ pointed out that during that period, 175,000 workers are off.
“Many of those people will be getting in their cars and they’ll be going through all Quebec, so that’s a lot more people on the road and a lot more risk for collision,” he said.
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The deadliest period on the roads, according to the SQ, is between mid-June and mid-September when, on average, 75 per cent of all road fatalities occur. According to the Marco Harrison from CAA-Quebec, the summer months are the deadliest on Quebec roads.
“If you take the 75 days between St-Jean-Baptiste weekend and Labour Day weekend,” he explained, “For the last five years, it’s about 100 people who lost their lives on Quebec roads. That’s more than during the wintertime starting November 19.”
Those numbers are dropping. In 2009 there were 30 deadly collisions during the construction holiday on SQ territory. In 2015 that dropped to 12 and last year, there were 11.
The SQ says their annual campaign is partly responsible for the decline, but they want to keep up the pressure. They’re focusing on the three leading causes of death on the roads — speeding, driving under the influence and distracted driving, which Leduc says is increasing.
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“We see them on the street, left and right. People texting, people talking on the phone, so that’s one area where we’re certainly paying close attention.”
Authorities want to emphasize the seriousness of the issue and say the aim is to bring the death toll to zero. Leduc joked that if that happens, there’ll be no need to hand out tickets.
“Then I’ll take my retirement,” he laughed.
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