SQ reports 240 fatal collisions, 269 road deaths in 2023

A police officer surveys traffic. (CP PHOTO/Jacques Boissinot)

The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) has published its annual road safety report, which showed 240 fatal collisions and 269 deaths in 2023.

The data published by the SQ "corresponds, for the most part, to the average of the last five years."

According to the force, the leading causes of fatal collisions last year were reckless driving and speeding (31 per cent) and inattention or distraction (9 per cent).

The Sûreté du Québec points out that nearly 20 per cent of victims killed in road collisions were not wearing seatbelts.

The Mauricie-Lanaudière region had the most fatal collisions, at 39, followed by Capitale-Nationale-Chaudière-Appalaches, at 35, and Estrie-Centre-du-Québec, at 33.

The analysis shows that there were 40 collisions involving a motorcycle, compared with 45 for the five-year average.

Twenty-seven pedestrians died on the roads last year, equivalent to the annual average between 2018 and 2022.

By contrast, four cyclists died in 2022, compared with 5.8 for the annual average over the last five years.

In a press release, the Sûreté du Québec wrote that it was "happy to see an improvement in the road numbers compared with last year."

In 2022, there were 266 fatal collisions, compared with 245 in 2021.

The number of fatalities was also up from 265 in 2021 to 291 in 2022.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on March 14, 2024.