Police on alert as construction holiday gears up

It’s the time of year when workers pack up their tools – and leave for vacation.

The traditional holiday is unique to Quebec.

When the construction workers take off – and so does everyone else.

With more than 100,000 Quebecers hitting the road – police aren’t taking any chances.

Officers are keeping their eye on over 6,000 locations.

"You will see a lot of police officers all over the province and all over the highway and provincial roads," said Surete du Quebec deputy director general Marcel Savard.

They’re calling it, “operation catalyst”.

It’s all part of an epic program to reduce road accidents all over Quebec this year.

Their message, “Epic”, stands for education, prevention, intervention and communication.

And it seems to be getting across.

Since 2006, fatal road accidents have decreased from more than 400 to 300.

"It’s an [improvement] but 298 is still too many," said Savard.

Over the past two year, 36 fatal accidents occurred during the construction holiday.

Forty-five per cent of them happened in the first weekend alone.

Police will be conducting radar operations until Aug. 7.

If you think you’ll be able to escape their watchful eye, police say, there’s not a chance.

“We’ll check for speeding, seat belts, alcohol, drugs and all behavior that could cause a collision,” said SQ officer Jimmy Potvin, strategy division captain.

By 11 a.m. Friday, 50 motorists had already been stopped on Highway 40 in Lavaltrie, Que.

"It’s not speed, it’s not alcohol, it was just a small family lost their bikes that was put on their trunk rack. Very dangerous because it almost caused a collision," Savard said of one near accident.

They remind motorists to pay attention on the roads, be aware of their surroundings, and allow time to get to their destination.