A Quebec coroner is once again urging the province’s Transport Ministry to enhance Highway 50 following a head-on collision late last year. Coroner Martine Lachance, in a recently published report, determined the death of a 71-year-old Boisbriand man was due to the highway’s absence of physical separation between oncoming lanes.
The incident took place on Dec. 26, 2025, near Brownsburg-Chatham in the western Laurentians. The victim was a passenger in a vehicle heading west on Highway 50, also known as Autoroute Guy-Lafleur.
As per the coroner’s report, the driver was traveling at 111 km/h in a 100 km/h zone when she was blinded by the headlights of an approaching truck. This caused her to lose control, hit the right-side guardrail, and veer into the eastbound lane, where the vehicle was struck by a van on the passenger side.
Weather and road conditions were not factors in the crash, with dry pavement, good visibility, and no mechanical issues found during police inspections. The absence of a central median or guardrail was highlighted as a factor that could have prevented the vehicle from crossing into oncoming traffic.
Earlier this year, two coroners highlighted nine other fatalities from collisions on Highway 50, emphasizing the risks of its continuous roadway layout. While upgrades have been implemented in some areas, Lachance’s report stressed the immediate need for median guardrails to separate traffic and expedited widening projects to convert the road to four lanes. These measures are deemed crucial to avoid future severe injuries and deaths.
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