A Quebec coroner is once again calling on the Transport Ministry to enhance safety measures on Highway 50 following a head-on crash at the end of last year.
In a recently published report, Coroner Martine Lachance concluded that the death of a 71-year-old Boisbriand resident was due to the highway’s absence of physical division between opposite lanes. The incident happened in the late afternoon on December 26, 2025, near Brownsburg-Chatham in the western Laurentians.
The deceased was a passenger in a vehicle traveling west on Highway 50, also known as Autoroute Guy-Lafleur. According to the coroner’s findings, the driver was exceeding the speed limit at 111 km/h in a 100 km/h zone when she was momentarily blinded by an oncoming truck’s headlights.
As a result, she veered off course, hitting the right-side guardrail before crossing into the eastbound lane, where the car was struck on the passenger side by a van. The report stated that neither weather nor road conditions played a role in the accident, with dry pavement and good visibility reported, and no mechanical issues found during police inspections.
The absence of a central barrier or guardrail to prevent the vehicle from crossing into oncoming traffic was highlighted by the coroner. Lachance emphasized the urgent need for the installation of median guardrails to separate traffic in both directions and the acceleration of planned widening projects to transform the road into four lanes to avert further tragedies.
Earlier this year, two coroners highlighted nine additional fatalities resulting from accidents on Highway 50, underscoring the risks posed by its continuous road layout. While some sections of the highway have been improved, Lachance’s report stresses the critical importance of immediate action to enhance safety measures and prevent more severe injuries and deaths.