A Quebec coroner has once again called on the province’s Transport Ministry to enhance Highway 50 following a head-on collision late last year. In a recently published report, Coroner Martine Lachance attributed the death of a 71-year-old Boisbriand man to the highway’s absence of physical separation between opposing lanes.
The incident took place in the evening on December 26, 2025, near Brownsburg-Chatham in the western Laurentians. The victim was a passenger in a vehicle traveling west on Highway 50, also known as Autoroute Guy-Lafleur.
As per the coroner’s findings, the driver was speeding at 111 km/h in a 100 km/h zone when she was momentarily blinded by an oncoming truck’s headlights. This led to her losing control of the car, hitting the right-side guardrail, and veering into the eastbound lane where the vehicle was struck on the passenger side by a van.
The report indicated that weather and road conditions were not factors in the crash, with dry pavement and good visibility. Police inspections revealed no mechanical issues with the vehicle. The lack of a central median or guardrail was identified as a critical factor that could have prevented the vehicle from crossing into the opposite lane.
Earlier this year, two coroners highlighted nine other fatalities resulting from accidents on Highway 50, emphasizing the risks associated with its continuous road design. While some sections of the highway have seen improvements, Lachance’s report urged immediate action to enhance safety by installing median guardrails to separate eastbound and westbound traffic.
The coroner also stressed the urgency of moving forward with planned widening projects to convert the road into four lanes, emphasizing that these measures are essential to prevent further severe injuries and fatalities.