The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) has released its road safety report following the province’s annual two-week construction holiday.
The construction holiday, which falls in the last two weeks of July, sees Quebecers head out in droves on provincial roadways for summer vacations.
During this time period, the SQ steps up its operations on provincial highways to remind drivers to adopt safe driving behaviours.
In total, 22,143 tickets were handed out for infractions to Quebec’s Highway Safety Code, according to police. Of those, more than 13,754 tickets were speeding related.
Officers also carried out 988 traffic stops to check for impaired driving. A total of 508 drivers were submitted to various screening methods to detect impaired driving, resulting in 336 arrests.
The SQ noted a 26 per cent improvement over last year when it comes to the number of collisions involving bodily harm, the number dropping to 490 for 2020 from 660 in 2019.
The number of fatal collisions in the territory under provincial police jurisdiction also dropped by half, from 16 fatalities in 2019 to eight this year.
Police said speeding, distracted driving and impaired driving remain the three major leading causes of collisions in Quebec.