The Quebec Minister of Transport, Sustainable Mobility and Transportation Electrification (MTMDET), André Fortin, and the President and CEO of the SAAQ, Nathalie Tremblay, released the Québec road safety report for 2017 on Tuesday in Quebec City. The report indicates that the number of casualties decreased by 474 in 2017 over the year before. Over a five-year period, the road toll trend is improving, however, 2017 was a more difficult year in terms of the number of fatalities and serious injuries. Last year 13 more deaths were reported than the year before, and the number of seriously injured increased by 28 incidents. Pedestrians accounted for 40 per cent of fatalities, almost a quarterof which occurred on the weekend. Distraction or inattention are blamed for around 35 per cent of those deaths. The report indicates that the group people over 75 enjoyed the most improvement in terms of fatalities and serious injuries over the year. For cyclists, the number of the seriously and slightly injured decreased by 2.1 percent and 5.4 percent respectively compared to 2016. The number of cyclist deaths, however, increased from 8 to 11 in 2017. In all, cycling victims are down 7.9 per cent from the average of the last five years. For 62.3 per cent of cycling victims, the incident involved a collision with a vehicle at an intersection. Nearly half (48.6%) of cyclist injuries and deaths occur during the summer. See full story in the Wednesday, May 9th edition of The Record.
2017 Highway safety record improves for most: Distracted driving a major cause of accidents
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