Speed limit to 120 km/h: the PQ promises to establish a pilot project

Pascal Dugas Drone

Wednesday, march 14, 2018 08:31

UPDATE
Wednesday, 14 march 2018, 16:18

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If it forms the next government, the Parti québécois is committed to develop a pilot project that would raise the speed limit from 100 to 120 km/h on some highways.

“It is time to end the hypocrisy,” said mp pq’s Martin Ouellet, during a press conference on Wednesday. Everyone in Quebec knows that, when you are driving on a motorway, this is not 100 kilometers away that we’re going to take, that there is a tolerance zone applied by the police officers.”

If the pilot project is successful, the new limit, which could be different from 120 km/h, would extend potentially to all the highways in Quebec. A committee of experts would be formed to determine the reasonable speed to be established.

The parti québécois ensures, however, does not want to make “no compromise” on the road safety. On the contrary, he says that the goal of this commitment is, above all, the public safety : the rules must be clear and applied uniformly.

Killed in the egg

The Parti québécois has first attempted to create the pilot project, proposing an amendment to the draft law which amends the highway safety Code, but the Transport minister, André Fortin, has immediately closed the door.

According to him, increase the speed limit on the motorways is likely to put the balance sheet quebec road, rather than improve it.

In support of his comments, he cited a us study according to which each increase of the maximum speed of 8 km/h increases by 8 % the number of serious accidents.

“So it seems to us, a measure which would increase the risk on the highways in Quebec, and so this is not something that we want to put forward,” ruled the minister Fortin.

Even he acknowledges that there is a threshold of tolerance of the police officers on the speed, it does not see a problem. On the contrary, this “tolerance” gives a leeway for the police to be more strict when the weather conditions require it.

They also considered that to apply a threshold of tolerance is different on the roads and on the highways was likely to cause confusion among motorists.