Road Safety

Right-Hand Drive Vehicles

On October 26, 2009, the prohibition against right-hand drive vehicles operating on public roads was once again in effect. The prohibition is valid for a period of 180 days and will allow the SAAQ to receive comments from the public for the first 90 days.

The SAAQ wishes to remind drivers that imported vehicles that are over 15 years old are covered by the prohibition, since they have not been subject to Transport Canada standards concerning motor vehicle safety because of their date of manufacture. Vehicles equipped with right-hand drive are not designed to operate on the Québec road network. Drivers do not have an optimum field of vision, which can interfere with driving manoeuvres, especially passing.

A study carried out by the SAAQ concerning accidents in 2007 and 2008 shows that operating these right-hand drive vehicles increases accident risks by 30%.

Vehicles not covered
Even if they have right-hand drive, the following vehicles are exempt from the prohibition:

• vehicles already registered in Québec before April 29, 2009, except those that have a temporary registration certificate;
• vehicles registered outside of Québec (visiting Québec);
• vehicles manufactured 25 years or more before the date on which they were imported to Canada;
• trucks with a net weight over 3,000 kg, tool vehicles and vehicles required to stop frequently along a road performing work for a public service;
• vehicles belonging to a driving school.

The SAAQ discovered that certain “light-duty” vehicles imported from Japan (known as “Kei”) had not been subject to any crash tests before October 1, 1998. Thus they do not meet minimum safety standards for travelling without restriction on public roads. These vehicles, registered before April 29, 2009, are therefore prohibited from using public roads where the posted speed limit is over 70 km/h, if they have the following features:

• 3.4 metres long or less;
• 1.48 metres wide or less;
• 2 metres high or less;
• a cylinder capacity of 660 cc or less with engine power of 47.7 kilowatts (64 hp) or less.

Owners of these types of vehicles have until December 29, 2009 to exchange their commercial or regular licence plates for a licence plate for restricted use (with the prefix C).

For the first three months of the prohibition, any interested person can send their comments to the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec (choose Road safety).

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