A Quebec coroner is once again calling on the province’s Transport Ministry to enhance Highway 50 after a head-on collision late last year. In a recently published report, Coroner Martine Lachance attributed the death of a 71-year-old individual from Boisbriand to an accident, citing the absence of a physical barrier between opposing lanes on the highway.
The incident took place in the afternoon on Dec. 26, 2025, close to 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 going at 111 km/h in a 100 km/h zone when she was momentarily blinded by the headlights of an oncoming truck. This caused her to lose control of the car, hitting the right-side guardrail before veering into the eastbound lane, where the vehicle was struck on the passenger side by a van.
The report highlighted that neither weather nor road conditions played a role in the collision, as the pavement was dry, visibility was good, and police inspections revealed no mechanical issues with the vehicle. The absence of a central median or guardrail was identified as a factor that could have prevented the vehicle from entering oncoming traffic.
Earlier this year, two coroners also raised concerns about nine other fatalities resulting from accidents on Highway 50, emphasizing the risks associated with its continuous roadway layout. While improvements have been implemented on certain segments of the highway, Lachance’s report emphasized the immediate need for median guardrails to separate traffic in both directions and urged the swift progression of planned widening projects to convert the road into four lanes. These proposed measures are deemed essential to prevent further severe injuries and deaths on the highway.