Fatalities due to vehicle collisions increased on highways across Québec in 2021.
The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) has released its annual highway safety report for 2021 and it shows an increase in both the number of fatal collisions and actual deaths resulting from collisions. Not only was there an increase in fatalities in 2021, but the number was above the five-year average of 233 fatal collisions.
In 2020, there were 231 fatal collisions on roads patrolled by the SQ. In 2021, there were 245 fatal collisions on those roads. In 2020, there were 250 deaths resulting from fatal collisions on roads patrolled by the SQ. On those same roads in 2021, there were 262 deaths resulting from fatal collisions.
The 2021 report shows that the main causes of fatal collisions are:
- reckless driving and speeding (24.5% of collisions)
- Impaired driving impaired due to alcohol, drugs or fatigue (14%)
- inattention/distraction (7%)
Just over 20% of victims who died in road collisions were not wearing seat belts.
Regarding collisions involving at least one motorcycle, the SQ counted 57 collisions, this represents an increase in the number of collisions compared to the five-year average of 41 collisions involving at least one motorcycle.
The safety report for the year 2021 states there 23 deceased pedestrians and six deceased cyclists as a result of collisions on roads under SQ jurisdiction. The number of deceased cyclists was unchanged from 2020, but five more pedestrians lost their lives in 2021 than in 2020. The five-year average for pedestrian deaths resulting from collisions is 23.
On a regional level, the number of fatal collisions on roads within Sûreté du Québec’s Outaouais-Laurentides region decreased in 2021 to 17 from 20 in 2020. However, fatal collisions on SQ-patrolled roads in the Montérégie region, which includes the off-island suburbs west of Montréal, the number of fatal collisions increased to 40 in 2021 from 26 in 2020.
