The state of aging of the fleet of patrol cars of the Sûreté du Québec is beginning to be worrying since it has reached a “critical” level, alarms the union of provincial police officers.
Cars are kept in service even if their useful life has been exceeded, causing accidents on a few occasions.
Thus, the rear axle of a moving patrol vehicle suddenly broke on a road in Charlevoix. The vehicle had odometer reading 4,000 kilometers over the limit.
“A policeman who is patrolling in Saint-Hilarion, on a road 75 kilometers away, in a straight line and suddenly he almost lost control of his vehicle and collided with a motorist, due to a support which supports the rear wheel of the vehicle which has given way. Had it not been for the police officer’s exceptional experience, there would have been an accident,” said Jacques Painchaud, president of the Quebec Provincial Police Association.
Other similar events have occurred. It has happened that a vehicle’s flashing lights have come off, that dashboard elements have come off and have to be fixed with tape or even worse, when the steering of a vehicle has become blocked. The driver was still able to pull over to the shoulder.
The pandemic, the labor shortage, the slowdown in the assembly and logistics chains are at the root of the difficulties of the Sureté du Québec in renewing its fleet, which has 1,100 patrol cars.
Two years ago, an agreement was reached with the police to extend the life of the vehicles by 20,000 kilometres, hitherto limited to 200,000 kilometres. This agreement will expire on December 31.
“We must admit that currently, the follow-up plan that has been proposed by the Sûreté du Québec has flaws and we are very worried regarding the situation,” added the president of the union.
It intends to suggest to police patrol officers to exercise, under occupational health and safety standards, a right of refusal if they consider that driving a vehicle presents risks.