As summer approaches, the Quebec branch of the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA-Quebec) is urging drivers to be cautious, respecting speed limits and showing courtesy behind the wheel. Last summer, 100 people lost their lives on the province’s roads, nearly 20 more than projected for 2024.
The director of the CAA-Quebec Foundation, André Durocher, points out that the three main factors leading to a road accident remain the same: speed, alcohol and distractions.
“In the vast majority of cases, these remain situations that are avoidable,” Duorcher told The Canadian Press.
According to him, the period between the national holiday and Labour Day remains the deadliest due to several factors including the temperature and the multiple festivities during the summer.
Faced with the reluctance of some Quebecers to travel to the United States for their holidays, Durocher expects to see more drivers on the province’s roads this summer. A survey conducted by CAA-Quebec shows that 57 per cent of Quebecers intend to spend the summer in Quebec this year.
In the summer of 2024, 83 people were victims of fatal accidents, compared to 93 victims in 2023. While the summer of 2025 was the deadliest in recent years, Durocher hopes that measures will be taken if the number of victims continues to increase this year.
“Last year was quite catastrophic, with deaths occurring right from the start of the construction holidays,” he added. “We’ll see if this is an exception or a trend.”
Certain regions are overrepresented in the number of people killed on Quebec roads during the summer. This period in 2025 was the deadliest, particularly on the North Shore, with 60 per cent of the region’s deaths, and in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, with 43 per cent of the annual deaths on these roads.
André Durocher reminds us, however, that certain behaviors can be adopted to avoid any tragedy. He encourages motorists, among other things, to plan their trips and activities to avoid mental overload, to ensure they have a designated driver in case of fatigue or substance use, and also to avoid speeding and share the road courteously with other users.
According to the road safety report of the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) for the whole of 2025, 371 people, of all types of users combined, were killed on the province’s roads, a decrease of 2.1 per cent compared to 2024.
Occupants of cars and light trucks remain the largest category of victims, with 202 fatalities. The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) also recorded a nearly 30 per cent increase in motorcyclist deaths last year compared to 2024, with 62 deaths compared to 48.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
