Quebec's auto insurance board (SAAQ) reported a worrying rise in the number of road deaths in its 2022 road safety report.

Some 392 deaths are counted in the report published Monday, which is 45 more than in 2021. The SAAQ notes that this represents an increase of 13.2 per cent compared with the average from 2017 to 2021.

Of particular concern is the 22.7 per cent increase in pedestrian fatalities in 2022, compared with this same average. A total of 79 pedestrians lost their lives last year.

"One accident is one too many! The data made public today are cause for concern, particularly with regard to pedestrian fatalities," said Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault in a press release, adding that the government will soon table a road safety action plan.

The pedestrian rights organization Piétons Québec points out that this is the worst road toll for pedestrians in 15 years.

"Pedestrians are unfortunately paying the price for our collective inaction to protect them," the organization's executive director, Sandrine Cabana-Degani, said.

She added that the minister's action plan must "be ambitious and include structural measures throughout Quebec to make travel safer for vulnerable road users."

Motorcyclist fatalities and fatalities in accidents involving heavy vehicles are also up by 10.1 per cent and 17.3 per cent respectively when compared with the 2017-2021 average.

A total of 95 people died in accidents involving heavy vehicles in 2022.

The SAAQ stresses that, in light of these figures, it intends to pursue its prevention efforts with the public.

An awareness campaign has been underway since the end of last month.

Entitled "Sur la route, on se conduit bien," it aims to make drivers aware of the importance of sharing the road withmore vulnerable users and of protecting them.

Among other data, 61 motorcyclists and 9 cyclists died in road accidents in 2022.

Also, 1,275 people were seriously injured and 27,048 slightly injured, two figures that are up from 2021.

This report was first published in French by The Canadian Press on June 12, 2023.