The months of October and November see more collisions between cars and pedestrians.
During a joint outing on Tuesday, the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ), Piétons Québec, CAA-Québec, the Sûreté du Québec and the Police Department of the City of Montreal called on motorists to exercise caution.
Over the last five years, there have been 525 collisions in Quebec during the months of October and November as well as 16 pedestrian deaths.
With darkness being more present during the day, visibility on the road is affected, which would partly explain these statistics.
“These are factors that complicate cohabitation because it’s not just motorists,” explains SAAQ spokesperson Gino Desrosiers. There are more pedestrians because there is a growing population, so there are more of us sharing the road.”
“For some people, sharing the road seems to be more difficult than for others, but it’s really lives that are at stake,” he adds.
However, pedestrians also have their role to play in reducing the risk of collisions.
“When you are a pedestrian and you walk with headphones and you look at your cell phone, that does not excuse motorists, but obviously, you are at risk,” says the director of relations with the CAA-Quebec road safety community, André Durocher.
“We should normally be aware of our surroundings,” he continues. We should hear vehicles, whether bicycles or heavy vehicles.”
The City of Montreal Police Service undertakes to carry out operations on the road to enforce the road safety code.
As of September 28, 583 collisions involving motorists and pedestrians have occurred as well as 16 deaths.
See the full explanation in the video above
