If you have never violated Quebec’s Highway Safety Code, then hats off to you! It means you’re a respectful and law-abiding driver, and that you care about your safety and the safety of your passengers. Not only is that record reflected in your premiums, but you’re also paying some of the lowest automobile insurance rates.

If you have violated Quebec’s Highway Safety Code, then you might have committed one of the 873,113 violations that led to demerit points in 2014. The figure is from a December 2015 study on offences and sanctions resulting from operating a road vehicle.¹ That’s a lot of tickets!

The 2014 total is slightly below the average from 2005–2014, but the number remained relatively stable at approximately 900,000 for each of those years.

Speed

The big winners—or losers, rather—are drivers with a lead foot. Between 2005 and 2014, 71% of all the offences were for speeding. Quebec law enforcement gave out 361,421 tickets for exceeding the speed limit by 20–30 km/h in 2014 alone.

Not only is speeding dangerous for you and your passengers, it’s also expensive. You can see a list of speed-related offences and demerit points and a chart of speeding fines on the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) website.

Stop signs and traffic lights

Next up are drivers with a light foot, as 105,126 tickets went to people who failed to stop at a stop sign and 34,191 tickets to people who failed to stop at a red light.

Distractions

Driving a road vehicle while using a hand-held device that includes a telephone function turns up in the middle of the study. It resulted in 62,072 tickets in 2014. Distracted drivers who forgot to buckle up also had to pay, as 43,523 tickets for not wearing a seatbelt were given out that year.

Construction zones

Every motorist enters at least one construction zone at some point on the road, especially in the summer. And law enforcement can’t ever say this enough: speeding in construction zones puts workers at risk. In 2014, Quebec law enforcement gave out 12,427 tickets for speeding in a construction zone.

So remember, you can easily avoid a ticket by keeping just a few rules of the road in mind while you’re at the wheel:

• Follow the speed limit
• Make a full 3-second stop at stop signs
• Leave the phone alone
• Buckle up at all times
• Be extra cautious in and around construction zones

Want to know more about your driving habits? Try our Ajusto app! Anyone can download it to their smartphone, whether you’re a Desjardins Insurance customer or not.