Driving in Quebec

Quebec rules of the road and driving information

►For everyone.

• Language : road information and road signs are in French, not usually in English. Most road signs use internationally familiar pictograms, so you'll have no difficulty understanding them.  A freeway is called an "Autoroute", and freeways are numbered with the letter A, as in France.
• Speed camera warning devices : these are illegal in Quebec.
• Seat belts must be worn by all persons in the car, at all times.
• Phoning at the wheel.  It is illegal to use a hand-held cellphone / mobile phone for speaking or texting while driving in Quebec, even if the car is stopped at the traffic lights. Warning : fines from $115 upwards.
• Speed limits in Quebec : 100 km/hr on divided highways, 90 on rural roads, 50 km/h in towns. The limits on divided highways / motorways / autoroutes vary from province to province or state to state in North America. In Quebec, it is on the low side, at 100 km/hr. Take care !  See table below for conversion into mph.
• Drinking and driving in Quebec : the maximum tolerated blood alcohol level is 0.05 grams per liter, the same as in most of Europe, Canada and the USA - but lower than in the UK.
• Gas (petrol) prices: average fuel prices in Quebec in 2017 are about 1.10 CAD (Canadian dollars) per litre. This is about a 30% cheaper than average prices in continental Europe, about 35% cheaper than in the UK, but about 50% more expensive than in the USA.
• Motorway tolls: generally speaking there are no tolls on highways in Quebec. One exception is the A-30 expressway round the south side of Montreal, where there is a fixed toll (2 CAD for a car in 2015).

Specific points for visitors from the USA.

There one extra point to watch out for :

• Distances and measures : firstly, as everywhere in Canada, distances are marked in kilometers, not miles.  So too therefore are speed limits. The quick rule to remember is that 8 kilometers = 5 miles, so a speed limit of 100 km/hr (the limit on Quebec's freeways) is a limit of 62.5 mph  (see speed limits below)  A distance marker indicating "160" means that you are 100 miles from the point indicated.
     Gas, as in the rest of Canada, is sold in liters, not gallons.  1 US gallon = 3.79 liters.
     Temperature indicators are in Celsius, not Fahrenheit:  so 0° is freezing, as is anything below it. +20°C is 68° F.

Specific points for visitors from outside North America.

Several points, which are generally points to note when driving anywhere in North America:

• Signage : when approaching intersections, advance direction signage is not nearly as thorough as in most parts of Europe. Exit lanes sometimes appear before any sign to tell you where they lead to, so take care ! Generally speaking, road signs are the same as those used elsewhere in North America, so slightly different to those used in Europe, but generally self-explanatory.
• School buses :  if a school bus is stopped with red lights flashing, traffic in both directions must stop too (except on a divided highway, where traffic on the same part of the highway must stop).
• Motorway / Freeway / Autoroute signs As in the USA and the rest of Canada, these are green, just like main roads, not  blue as is used in most parts of Europe.
• Traffic lights:  as is general in North America, traffic can turn right on a red traffic light, though this is not legal in Montreal.
• Driving into the USA: visitors from third countries need to be in possession of a US visa or visa exemption, to drive into the USA. For more on this see Visas and ESTA on About-the-USA.com.

Traffic density.

Speed limits in Quebec, converted into miles per hour