Deadly start to construction holiday has officials pleading with Quebecers to drive safe

It is one of the deadliest times of year on Quebec roads, and officials are calling for drivers to be more aware after a crash in the Laurentians killed a young family last week.

On Friday in Lantier, the family was heading south on Route 329 when the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) says a car travelling north tried to pass another vehicle and crashed into them. The parents and their 7-year-old son were killed.

The child’s grandmother told CTV News their death is the result of someone who wanted to save a few seconds on the road.

The Mayor of Lantier, Richard Forget, says the family was well known in the community.

• READ MORE: 3 dead in car collision near Mont-Tremblant

“Everybody is sad, very sad,” Forget said.

“We already have six people that lost their lives in three collisions,” said SQ spokesperson Joyce Kemp.

The 75 days between Saint-Jean-Baptiste and Labour Day are among the deadliest of the year, according to André Durocher with CAA-Quebec.

“It’s always, I say, the usual suspects [which are] speeding, distraction and alcohol,” said Durocher.

Data from the SQ shows 38 people died on the road over the construction holiday last year, a jump from previous years.

Quebec’s automobile insurance board (SAAQ) is travelling across the province in a hearse, a sombre way to plead with Quebecers to drive safely.

“I hate the word accident....it’s not an accident when you’re drunk. It’s not an accident when you are speeding,” said SAAQ spokesperson Simon-Pierre Poulin.