MONTREAL - Quebec provincial police officer Donovan Lagrange has died from the injuries he suffered in a highway accident Saturday afternoon near the Bois-des-Filon exit of Highway 640 eastbound.
The officer was brought to hospital with serious wounds after being struck by a passing car while walking back to his police cruiser during a roadside radar operation at around 2:20 p.m., according to SQ official Benoit Richard.
Lagrange was a nine-year veteran of the force and had been assigned to the Montreal-Laval-Laurentians-Lanaudiere road safety unit in 2010.
He was tossed 20 to 30 metres after being struck by the vehicle and was pronounced dead after midnight Sunday.
Lagrange had parked his police cruiser by the roadside, in front of two other cars that he had pulled over.
The vehicle that caused the accident first hit the two parked civililan cars before hitting Lagrange, who was walking back to his police cruiser to process tickets.
The driver who struck Lagrange was brought to hospital for shock and could face charges under the recently-enacted Move Over Law.
On August 5, the Move Over Law came into effect, obliging drivers to change lanes when emergency vehicles are stopped on the side of the road.
The law was passed after a police officer was hit and killed near Bromont last December.
According to one legal expert, the punishment could be harsh if the motorist is found to have violated the rules.
“If you fail to move over in a safe and appropriate manner, then you are going to be facing a fine of $200 and four points. That is, of course, if nothing happens. If, God forbid, something does happen, like you hit a person, then they are going to throw the book at you because at that point you've failed to obey the law and now you've driven dangerously, which is a Criminal Code offense,” said Lawyer Jordan Charness.
According to the Canadian Automobile Association, there have been more than 200 accidents involving vehicles stopped at the side of the road in the last three years in Quebec. At least four people have been killed.
Bois-des-Filions is a town of about 9,500 about 25 kilometers north of downtown Montreal.
More official information about the Move Over Law can be found here, and here.
Lagrange is the second SQ officer to die in a road accident within the last 10 days. On September 26, Katia Hadouchi, 23 died while responding to an emergency call in Saint-Ambroise-de-Kildaire in Lanaudiere.
“In the police we are like a big family and when we lost two members of the family in a short time it's very difficult for all the police officers,” said SQ Spokesperson Christine Coulombe.
