TRANSPORTATION. The Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) made public on Tuesday its road report for all regions of Quebec for the year 2023.
The Centre-du-Québec region records a number of 25 deaths in 2023. This represents an increase of 14.7% compared to the average observed from 2018 to 2022. For all of Quebec, the number of deaths is to 380, a decrease of 7.5% for the same period.
The number of people seriously injured rose to 65, an increase of 18.6% compared to the average of the last five years. Quebec as a whole saw a decrease of 1.2%.
The number of people with minor injuries, which stands at 990 for the Centre-du-Québec region, shows a decrease of 8.1% compared to the average of the last five years. Concerning all victims, 1,080 people suffered bodily injury in a road collision in 2023, or 6.4% less compared to the average from 2018 to 2022.
Regarding the province as a whole, several decreases were recorded in the number of deaths among vulnerable users compared to the previous year. Among pedestrians, there are 23.2% fewer deaths recorded, for cyclists it is 16.7% less and for motorcyclists it is 12.9% less.
“The improvement in the road safety record is proof that awareness, combined with police control and the strengthening of legislation, brings about a change in behavior among the Quebec population. We must continue on this path,” said the president and CEO of the SAAQ, Éric Ducharme, in a press release.
On the side of the organization Piétons Québec, the reaction was not long in coming. The general director of Piétons Québec Sandrine Cabana-Degani welcomes the decrease recorded, but mentions that the 63 pedestrians who died in 2023 are all reasons to “multiply efforts to improve the safety of people who travel on foot in Quebec”.
“The government of Quebec and municipalities must prioritize the application of the Vision zero deaths and serious injuries approach, in particular by reducing speeds, but also the number and size of vehicles on our roads. The impact of light trucks on collisions with the most vulnerable people must be measured in the next SAAQ road reports. It is difficult to act on what we do not measure,” she adds.
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