Advice For Driving in The Province of Québec

[Tomko]

Ministère des Transports du Québec Official Guide – New Drivers in Québec

1. Turn signals will give away your next move. A confident Québec driver avoids using them.

2. Under no circumstance should you maintain a safe distance between you and the car in front of
you, because somebody else will fill in the space, putting you in an even more dangerous situation.

3. The faster you drive through a red light, the less of a chance you have of getting hit.

4. Warning! Never come to a complete stop at a stop sign. No one expects it and it will result in
your being rear-ended.

5. Never get in the way of an older car that needs extensive bodywork, especially with New
Brunswick or Ontario plates. With no insurance, the other operator has nothing to lose.

6. Braking is to be done as hard and late as possible to ensure that your ABS kicks in, giving a
vigorous, foot massage as the brake pedal violently pulsates. For those of you without ABS, it's a
chance to strengthen your leg muscles.

7. Never pass on the left when you can pass on the right. It's a good way to prepare other drivers
entering the highway.

8. Speed limits are arbitrary figures, given only as a suggestion and are not enforceable in
Québec during rush hour, especially in Montréal.

9. Just because you're in the left lane and have no room to speed up or move over doesn't mean
that a Québec driver flashing his high beams behind you doesn’t think he can go faster in your
spot.

10. Always brake and rubberneck when you see an accident or even someone changing a tire.
This is seen as a sign of respect for the victim.

11. Learn to swerve abruptly without signaling. Québec is the home of high-speed slalom-driving;
thanks to the Ministère des Transports du Québec, which puts pot-holes in key locations to test
drivers' reflexes and keep them alert.

12. It is tradition in Québec to honk your horn at cars in front of you that do not move three
milliseconds after the light turns green.

13. To avoid injury in the event of a collision or rollover, it is important to exit your vehicle thru the
windshield right away. Wearing your seat belt will only impede your hi-velocity escape from
danger.

14. Remember that the goal of every Québec driver is to get ahead of the pack by whatever
means necessary.

15. In Québec, 'flipping the bird' is considered a polite salute. This gesture should always be
returned.

[DanCBJMS1988]

Then again, I remember as a kid that whenver we crossed the border into Québec from either Vermont or New Hampshire, an MTQ person at the tourist office would always hand the driver something on the rules of the road in Québec (with basic French in there, o'course, for the tourists) with the basics like no radar detectors and the speed limits and the like, sponsored by the assocation of Québec insurance agencies. The last couple of time I've been up there with family, they don't do that anymore. They expect you to know, and if you don't they have PSA ads all over the place (in French, of course - no English) telling you the rules of the road.

In other news however: http://www.cbc.ca/cp/national/070129/n012979A.html

[IAMCANADIAN]

I have only been to Quebec once in my entire life, I probably wouldn't go again. Nothing against French Canadians or Quebec (I am part French and am fluent in the language), but, I just have no desire to go visit an eastern Canadian province.

[montrealvue]

Wow, every one of those is bang on! Driving is a sport up here. If you do visit be sure to wear a helmet and don't drive anything new...... Remember, the rules of the road are "suggestions" here, your own rules are welcome.

[Butz]

The perfect place for me. That's it I'm moving to Quebec!

[pete4280]

you forgot cars have the right of way over pedestrians at all crosswalks

[Tomko]

I personally like driving in Québec, especially Montréal. You really have to keep your wits about you. It's never boring and there is certainly no driving with one hand. If you can imagine the most outlandish, risky, road rally behaviour than you can always predict what the other drivers will do.

[montrealvue]

Butz.....c'mon up, bring your driving gloves! I'll show you around....

[DanCBJMS1988]

Originally Posted by Butz

The perfect place for me. That's it I'm moving to Quebec!

Make sure you learn Québec French beforehand dude.

[confused1096]

I had the ultimate driving intro to Quebec a few years ago. Lost, driving an 18-wheeler. All the signs in French (which I did not speak) and metric (which I sorta know, but have to think about. How I found the warehouse, picked up my load, and got out without performing urban renewal via Freightliner is beyond me.

[FordFan]

Lol sounds like Riyadh. I am dead serious here. It's like a derby over here.

[AndrewGS]

I always thought the signs in Quebec and adjacent provinces had to be in both French and English.

Originally Posted by DanCBJMS1988

In other news however: http://www.cbc.ca/cp/national/070129/n012979A.html

I agree with these people.

[DanCBJMS1988]

Originally Posted by AndrewGS

I always thought the signs in Quebec and adjacent provinces had to be in both French and English.

Not under the Charter of the French Language in Québec. Under the Charter of the French Language, virtually everything allowable under law in Québec has to be in French - no English allowed. If it has to be bilingual, then French has to predominate over English - for example, on a billboard, the English text can not be bigger than the French text. It spills itself over in other ways. Video games sold in Québec, for example, have to include French instructions - no English instructions allowed.

Outside of Québec, if you want a job in the public sector then you have to be fluent in French and English. If a province has French has a secondary language alongside English (such as New Brunswick, the only bilingual province in Canada), then signs and government services have to be in both French and English. Other than that, English still predominates, except in goverment where you are allowed to have services in either French or English.

Complicated, eh?

[AndrewGS]

Originally Posted by DanCBJMS1988

Not under the Charter of the French Language in Québec. Under the Charter of the French Language, virtually everything allowable under law in Québec has to be in French - no English allowed. If it has to be bilingual, then French has to predominate over English - for example, on a billboard, the English text can not be bigger than the French text. It spills itself over in other ways. Video games sold in Québec, for example, have to include French instructions - no English instructions allowed.

Outside of Québec, if you want a job in the public sector then you have to be fluent in French and English. If a province has French has a secondary language alongside English (such as New Brunswick, the only bilingual province in Canada), then signs and government services have to be in both French and English. Other than that, English still predominates, except in goverment where you are allowed to have services in either French or English.

Complicated, eh?

Well, I wish the US were as adamant about English as Quebec about French.

[DanCBJMS1988]

Then I guess you'll need an American version of René Lévesque.