Quebecers’ reputation for wild driving is a perennial source of jokes, not only locally but also in neighbouring provinces.

But dangerous driving habits are no laughing matter for the Quebec government. With rising numbers of deaths and injuries on the province’s highways, the government is putting on a big push this year to get drivers to stay sober, slow down and follow the rules of the road.

Last year, 719 people were killed on Quebec roads and 6,906 were seriously injured. The death toll was 9.3% higher than the average number of deaths over the five previous years, while serious injuries were up 18.9%.

In 2005, Quebec ranked seventh among the provinces for traffic accident deaths per 100,000 drivers, but was No. 2 behind Manitoba for injuries.

The Quebec government is worried enough about the trend to designate 2007 as Highway Safety Year and launch a series of initiatives to reduce the carnage on the roads.

The most high-profile of these actions is a shocking 60-second television ad sponsored by Quebec Automobile Insurance Corp.

The ad begins with a man driving in a car that is suddenly rammed at high speed by a pickup truck. It then cuts to a hospital, in which doctors fight in vain to save the man’s life. The ad ends with the man’s wife and daughter sobbing in the hospital waiting room.

The TV spot is just the first of a year-long advertising push by the insurance company. It will be followed by ads focusing on drinking and driving, and others on speeding. Radio advertising is also planned.

“This type of strong message is necessary,” said Transport Minister Michel Després at the launch of the government’s road safety strategy earlier this year. “Highway accident statistics have been continuously deteriorating over the past five years. We have to make every effort to reverse the situation.”

The trend is particularly troubling because it comes after years of progress in road safety across North America, thanks to factors such as safer cars, heightened public awareness and enforcement on drinking and driving. In 1973, there were almost four times as many people killed on Quebec’s roads — despite the fact that there were fewer than half as many vehicles registered.

Després notes that 80% of accidents are caused by human behaviour — including, most often, drinking and driving or speeding — rather than factors such as weather conditions or mechanical failure.

As part of the government’s campaign, police will also be stepping up enforcement efforts. Ironically, lack of enforcement may be part of the explanation of why deaths and injuries are on the rise.

Jean-Marie De Koninck, chairman of a task force on highway safety, told Montreal’s The Gazette that po-licing had been affected by budget cutbacks and the refusal of the provincial police to hand out tickets as a pressure tactic in a contract dispute that ended last year.

De Koninck — a Laval University mathematics professor who founded the Nez Rouge organization, a service that offers rides home to people who have been drinking — will be touring the province this spring to meet with students, chambers of commerce and local media outlets.

After De Koninck’s tour, his task force will present its report.

The provincial government will introduce a new highway safety policy in the fall.

The Quebec government says it believes its efforts this year can help to improve the situation on the province’s highways.

But as Després notes, the result depends mostly on individual Quebecers changing their driving habits: “We’re all responsible for our behaviour.” IE