A Quebec coroner is once again calling on the province’s Transport Ministry to enhance Highway 50 after a head-on collision last year. Coroner Martine Lachance, in a recent report, attributed the death of a 71-year-old Boisbriand man to the highway’s absence of a physical barrier between opposing lanes.
The incident occurred on Dec. 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.
According to the coroner’s findings, the driver was traveling at 111 km/h in a 100 km/h zone when she was dazzled by the headlights of an approaching truck. 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.
Weather and road conditions were not factors in the accident as per the report. The road was dry, visibility was good, and police inspections revealed no mechanical issues with the vehicle.
The absence of a central median or guardrail was highlighted by the coroner as a factor that could have prevented the vehicle from entering oncoming traffic.
Earlier this year, two coroners highlighted nine deaths from collisions on Highway 50, emphasizing the hazards of its continuous road layout. While upgrades have been made in some areas, Lachance urged immediate action to enhance safety by installing median guardrails to divide eastbound and westbound traffic. Additionally, she stressed the urgency of proceeding with planned widening projects to convert the road to four lanes to avoid further injuries and fatalities.
