A coroner is again deploring the lack of safety on a stretch of the A-50 where nothing separates the lanes in either direction, after another face-to-face encounter left a young Gatineau mother family dead.
• Also read: Face to face on the A-50: A truck hits a driver
“I have been a coroner for 13 years and have recommended the expansion or installation of Highway 50 to the Department of Transportation [de glissières médianes] between the tracks. “While we wait for work, we have deaths,” says Me Denyse Langelier on the phone.
The coroner recently released her report into the death of Emmalee Scantlebury-Jacob, which occurred on an evening in July 2022 as torrential rain fell.
The mother of two little girls was a passenger when her partner lost control of his car at the wheel. His small red Hyundai collided head-on near Brownsburg-Chatham with a van that was unable to avoid him in the opposite direction.
Photo from Facebook
Emmalee Scantlebury-Jacob, 25, died July 21, 2022, in a collision on Highway 50 near Brownsburg-Chatham. PHOTO FROM FACEBOOK – EMMALEE S-JACOB
“It happened so quickly, one minute I was driving and the next I was waking up in the hospital,” the driver, who preferred not to give his name, told the Journal.
He was aware of the dangers of the A-50, which is unfortunately also called the “highway of death”, and avoided it as often as possible: “My phone battery was dead that evening, it was the only road with clear directions for the way back. “complains the Gatineau resident.
Dangerous and deadly
Earlier this month, another collision left two dead and as many injured, also in the Laurentians.
“Highway 50 has a bad reputation: dangerous and deadly,” the coroner wrote in her report on Ms. Scantlebury-Jacob’s death.
Me Langelier is very pleased that the Ministry of Transport has announced a project to widen the A-50 to four lanes, which has started in Outaouais.
Coroner Denyse Langelier
However, no date has yet been set for work on several sections, including the Laurentides sector where the 25-year-old woman lost her life.
“You have heard our calls, but how long will it take for everything to be fully implemented? These are lives we need to save,” she said.
Avoid further drama
In the meantime, the coroner would like to see median concrete or cable barriers installed to separate lanes for oncoming traffic. In her opinion, this measure could have saved the victim's life.
“And there are not only deaths, but also many injuries in these accidents,” she emphasizes.
After the accident, Ms Scantlebury-Jacob's partner spent six months bedridden in hospital. Both femurs and his right arm were broken. He had to learn to walk again. He is still undergoing physical therapy to recover from his injuries.
Despite the coroner's recommendation, such a security project is not planned for the Ministry of Transport.
“The typology of accidents does not show that the installation of guardrails on several kilometers of the highway would lead to a significant improvement in the safety record,” writes spokeswoman Mélissa Dion.
The driver is also convinced that a guard rail would have saved his lover: “I wouldn't have driven the car in the opposite direction.” Things would have turned out completely differently. But a personal encounter on the highway leaves no chance,” he says.
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