A 74-year-old man taking a road test was killed Tuesday and his passenger — an employee of Quebec’s motor vehicle insurance agency — was critically injured after the car they were in collided with a commuter train.
Police say the collision occurred in Montreal’s north end, at a level railway crossing on the corner of a major boulevard, near the river that separates Montreal from its northern suburb.
Mario Vaillancourt, a spokesman for the Societe de l’assurance automobile du Quebec, said the 74-year-old was being re-evaluated for a driver’s license.
Without getting into the specifics of the collision, Vaillancourt said the type of exam the man was taking “is often tied to someone’s health condition.”
The agency requires some drivers to take a road test to determine whether they can still drive safely, Vaillancourt said in an interview.
The SAAQ released a statement Tuesday afternoon offering condolences to the 74-year-old’s family.
“A team has been deployed … to meet with staff members to provide them with the necessary psychological support,” the agency said.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada said it has dispatched an investigator to the railway crossing to gather information about the collision, which occurred around 9:30 a.m.
Montreal police said the driver was transported to hospital in critical condition and died there shortly after, while his 33-year-old passenger remained in hospital in critical condition.
No one was injured aboard the train, which was operated by the regional transit agency Exo.
With files from the Canadian Press.
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