Accident on highway 20: a worker struck fatally, and the motorist drunk arrested

News 24 February, 2018

Photo By Pascal Girard

QMI agency

Saturday, 24 February, 2018 07:07

UPDATE
Saturday, 24 February, 2018 07:07

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DORVAL | An employee of the department of Transport, 44-year-old lost his life in a violent collision occurred in a construction zone on highway 20 west in Dorval, on Friday night.

READ ALSO: “It happens too often that soûlons hit us,”

The accident occurred at about 23: 30, near the junction with highway 520, when a van, driving by a motorist, 38-year-old in a drunken state, struck a sport utility vehicle (SUV).

Photo By Pascal Girard

“Following the impact, the SUV, which was on the way to the centre, is deported to face the workers who were on the right track (closed due to construction), to the front of the vehicle of protection”, a summary of Louis-Philippe Bibeau, a spokesperson for the Sûreté du Québec, LCN.

The road was closed to traffic and measures to protect the workers had been put in place.

According to Urgences-santé, the death of a worker, a man from Montreal, was found on the spot. Five other workers – of which one had to be extricated from underneath a vehicle – were transported to the hospital for serious injuries. According to the SQ, it is not feared, however, not for their lives.

The driver of the SUV was also injured in the collision. Two people have also been hospitalized for a nervous shock.

Photo By Pascal Girard

The man who was at the wheel of the pickup truck responsible for the accident was arrested and transported to the police station, where he failed the alcotest, noted Mr. Bibeau. He will face such a charge of impaired driving causing death and appear in court Saturday.

In a press release, the ministry of Transport, sustainable Mobility and the Electrification of transport has indicated that the accident involved nine workers who were making repairs to a guardrail on the edge of the road.

“The ministry confirms the death of an employee, two critically injured, four injured minors”, a-t was specified. “The adoption of a responsible behavior and safety, and adhering to the regulations in place are put in the roadwork zones”, a-t-on mentioned.

“One is too soft”

In an interview with LCN, the president of the Association of workers in the road signs of Quebec, Jean-François Dionne, slammed the laws, which he considers too lenient towards motorists.

“In Quebec, it is too soft with motorists, has he hammered. If you hit a worker of signs, you should be criminally charged as if you had hit a police officer.”

Mr. Dionne also calls for a greater police presence near the road works.