A Quebec coroner is once again calling on the province’s Transport Ministry to enhance Highway 50 after a head-on crash late last year. In a recently published report, Coroner Martine Lachance attributed the death of a 71-year-old Boisbriand man to an accident caused by the absence of physical separation between lanes. The incident occurred 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. The report indicated that the driver was traveling at 111 km/h in a 100 km/h zone when she was momentarily blinded by an oncoming truck’s headlights. This caused her to lose control, hitting the right-side guardrail before veering into the opposite lane where a van collided with the passenger side.
Weather and road conditions were ruled out as factors in the crash as the pavement was dry, visibility was good, and no mechanical defects were found during police inspections. The absence of a central median or guardrail was highlighted as a critical factor that could have prevented the vehicle from crossing into oncoming traffic.
Earlier this year, two coroners highlighted the dangers of Highway 50, citing nine other fatalities from collisions due to its continuous road design. While upgrades have been implemented in some areas, Lachance’s report emphasized the urgent need for median guardrails to separate traffic and the acceleration of planned widening projects to convert the road to four lanes. These measures are crucial to avert future severe injuries and deaths on the highway.