In a period that lasted not much longer than 24 hours, there were six major motorcycle accidents in Quebec, three of them were fatal.
Saturday evening, a 22-year-old man was out for a ride with some friends when he lost control of his bike and hit a low dividing wall on Highway 15 in Laval. The impact threw him from his bike and onto the side of the road, where he was hit by a passing vehicle.
Sunday morning, a 30-year-old man was killed while racing his bike at an event at the ICAR circuit in Mirabel. For an unknown reason the man lost control of motorcycle and crashed. He was pronounced dead at Sacré-Coeur Hospital. Police are still trying to determine what caused the man to skid out of control.
A couple hours later, in Rigaud, a man in his 60s was killed when his motorcycle was struck by a vehicle entering a campground off Route 201. A second motorcyclist, in his 20s, was also hit in the accident. He suffered serious injuries but late in the day doctors upgraded his condition to stable.
The woman and her two young passengers were treated for shock.
Three other accidents sent motorcyclists to hospital in serious conditions, including one on Highway 40 here in Montreal.
The tragic weekend comes as the Federation of Quebec Motorcyclists launches a new campaign looking to improve safety for everyone on the roads.
It was created after 23 of the 49 fatal motorcycle accidents in 2017 happened in the two weeks prior to the construction holiday.
"This campaign isn't only for motorcyclists, it's also for drivers, cars, trucks," federation spokesperson Jean-Pierre Frechette told CTV Montreal. "Just be careful, because there are more people on the road during these critical weeks."