Quebec road death toll drops below 600

Quebec is boasting the lowest number of highway and road deaths in decades, a tally officials said shows tougher laws to control speeding and cell phone use are taking effect.

In 2008, 557 people died in accidents across Quebec, the first time the road death toll has fallen below 600 people in 60 years.

The number is still too high, but it shows that new rules about cellphones, speeding, and drinking and driving do work, said Transport Minister Julie Boulet.

There is still room to improve death rates due to drinking and driving, said Jean-Marie de Koninck, who headed a provincial task force on road safety. He said he would like to see the legal limit reduced to 0.05 from 0.08.

"The trend across the planet is to reduce [to] that level," he told CBC News. "In Sweden, it's 0.02. If you go in a restaurant in Sweden and you sit down and ask for a beer, the waiter has the obligation to ask you if you're driving, and if you say 'I'm driving,' he says 'legally I cannot serve you alcohol.' "

The Liberals tabled a bill last year to reduce the legal blood-alcohol limit, but it was voted down by opposition parties.

Boulet said she's not sure whether the government will try to reintroduce similar legislation.