Deadly crash revives road safety concerns

A highway collision that killed an elderly Quebec couple at a notorious highway intersection in Lanaudire has spurred local residents to renew their call for a roundabout.

A 75-year-old man and a 64-year-old woman diedafter their car collided head-on with a tanker truck at the intersection of Routes 158 and 345, in Sainte-Genevive-de-Berthier Wednesday night.

Firefighters had to pry the Quebec City couple out of the tangled wreckage.

They were rushed to hospital in critical condition, where they died later in the night.

The tanker truck driver was also treated in hospital for shock.

Quebec provincial police are investigating the cause of the accident and say the car containing the elderly couple may have been trying to turn onto Route 158 from 345, and entered the wrong lane by mistake.

Local residents say they've seen their fair share of dangerous turns at the sharp junction, and continue to wonder why nothing has been done to increase safety at the intersection.

"Last year, there was a guy, he saw a truck coming, but he decided to pass by anyway, and got hit," recalls Tommy Brissette, who lives near the junction.

Two other fatal crashes have claimed lives at the junction and have prompted calls for more security measures.

In February 2011,five people were killed in a head-on collision between avan and a school bus.

In 2001, a woman died in a crash at the intersection, leading the coroner's office to recommend a roundabout for the junction.

Warning signs and flashing yellow lights were installed to improve visibility but the roundabout has never been built.

Quebec's Transport ministry has said it has plans to eventually build the road structure.

Lanaudire is about an hour northeast of Montreal.