A Quebec coroner is once again emphasizing the need for improvements to Highway 50 following a head-on crash late last year. In a recently published report, Coroner Martine Lachance attributed the death of a 71-year-old Boisbriand resident to the absence of a physical barrier between opposing lanes on the highway.
The incident took place 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 going 111 km/h in a 100 km/h zone when she was temporarily blinded by an oncoming truck’s headlights. This caused her to lose control, hit the right-side guardrail, and veer into the eastbound lane, where the vehicle was struck on the passenger side by a van.
The report stated that weather and road conditions were not factors in the accident. 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 as a factor that could have prevented the vehicle from crossing into oncoming traffic.
Earlier this year, two coroners reported on nine other fatalities resulting from accidents on Highway 50, emphasizing the risks posed by its continuous layout. While some sections of the road have been upgraded, Lachance’s report called for immediate action to enhance safety by installing median guardrails to separate eastbound and westbound traffic. Additionally, she urged the province to expedite planned widening projects to convert the road into four lanes to prevent further tragedies.
