It’s best not to be on the streets of Montreal on snowy nights. Red lights, dangerous races, struggling drivers: it’s a crazy race – and dangerous – to clear the streets as quickly as possible, La Presse could see by accompanying those who cracked down on the perpetrators.
Officer Dragan Perosevic stepped down after the intervention at the corner of Decelles and Côte-des-Neiges. When he was first released, the vehicle ran a red light under the nose of the traffic controller, police said. “No, let’s see! No, no, no!”
So the nights following the storms in Montreal are approaching: in the minds of many snow removalists, the Road Safety Code seems to be suspended in loading. “It seems that some people think that because of their work, the rules do not apply to them”, explains the manager Antonio Bérubé, who watches with his colleague Perosevic. “But this is not true.”
During the night from Thursday to Friday, two controllers were pressed into action in monitoring the transport operation the day before. Objective: to bring some order to this far west.
PHOTO CHARLES WILLIAM PELLETIER, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Officer Dragan Perosevic intervened with the driver.
That these machines, with their huge blind spots, can kill. On average, three people die in a snow removal accident every year in Quebec, according to a review of La Presse 2020. Just last month, Zohaib Aamir Shafiqui was killed at only 16 years old by a snow removal truck in a Laval parking lot.
Their presence on the streets of Montreal is closely guarded by workers who warn each other of their movements by radio. “Look, the green men will stick to you! spitting radio grader as Dragan Perosevic chatted with his driver – a traffic controller in a green uniform.
A few hours before, in the early evening, the two were intervening with the driver of an immense carriage immobile in the snow in a reserved street, the station blocked and preparing to make a left turn at the corner of Saint-Michel and Jean-blocked. Talon “I will go to my CERAUL,” pleaded the accused, before agreeing to comply with the orders.
PHOTO CHARLES WILLIAM PELLETIER, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
The intervention of agents Anthony Bérubé and Dragan Perosevic (on the right)
He could not ignore the traffic controllers to keep an eye on him: his truck was soon fined $549 for not being equipped with an erect receptacle, causing a traffic collision between dumpsters and the highway.
During the night from Thursday to Friday, three pairs of traffic controllers walked the streets located on the east side of Highway 15 in Montreal, but not all of them were specifically assigned to the removal of snow like managers Perosevic and Bérubé.
“Not all trucks!”
In the heart of such a rush: a way of remuneration for truckers, a price for a snow trip. Every minute counts as he gets to the snowblower, fills and unloads as fast as he can. This ride is repeated several times during the 1:00 to 2:00 shifts that these workers often work.
PHOTO CHARLES WILLIAM PELLETIER, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Truckers pay to travel through the snow.
“Stay safe. Take your time,” Anthony Bérubé fined his driver just for running a red light, corner of Saint-Joseph and Christophe-Colomb. In English, the driver defends his decision. “Sir, it’s a challenge to drive this truck, it’s a big machine” he said.
Truckers are not the only ones getting paid according to their speed. The manufacturing trucks are very free in the street in the same phase.
PHOTO CHARLES WILLIAM PELLETIER, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Heavy snow on Montreal streets overnight from Thursday to Friday
At the corner of Papineau and Saint-Grégoire, drivers Perosevic and Bérubé see one left again at a red light as a car pulls up that hides its rear lights. A tow truck must install temporary lights on the back of the vehicle being towed, but few seem to do this.
“We have an exemption,” says the working artist, cigarette in his beak. False, answer agents. After a brief inspection, the drivers discovered the Hyundai Kona was speeding without observing the rules. Total.
PHOTO CHARLES WILLIAM PELLETIER, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
The moderators are about to intervene.
Even the blue-collar workers – although they were paid by the hour – was stressed.
“It’s fun to stay in this country like loading! shouts the team leader from the city of Montreal looking at the controller’s truck. Here he slides in all his states after a few minutes, with both hands clasped as if in prayer. “Not all the trucks! Not all my trucks!” asks Gabrielle, who thinks that the controllers will immobilize the whole rows of trucks that need to be filled. Put the controllers of the clocks back on time, the boss laughs again. “My load is not progressing tonight. it doesn’t work! Only one thing was missing, you guys! He points out that he has more cars in tow than usual, which causes delays.
“Can you hurry?”
In the Saint-Michel snow dump, in the former Miron prey, organized chaos trucks, snow industry and the ball was busy all night. a worker of the city of Montreal approaches the directors who surround him: “I’m happy to see you”, he says, reporting some trucks that work in private contracts are filled in an exaggerated and dangerous way. “I don’t find it normal. Dragan Perosevic gives him a piece of paper with a phone number that says an unknown author. “This cooperation is important,” explains his colleague Bérubé.
PHOTO CHARLES WILLIAM PELLETIER, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Dragan Perosevic and Antonio Bérubé in their vehicle
At the entrance of the site, when the controller’s car is going around, the truck driver jumps on the brakes in the section where he stopped. This time without penalty. “I’m going on,” says agent Perosevic. When they later see a young man joining a colleague in a tractor-trailer intended for one passenger in the middle of Décarie Boulevard, they turn on the flashing lights and intercept the vehicle. The 19-year-old was sitting on a milk crate without protection in case of an accident.
PHOTO CHARLES WILLIAM PELLETIER, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Intervention guides with the tractor driver
The worker was reluctant to identify himself, pretending to hesitate about the year of his birth. He would not show the same level of patience as he demanded from the directors: “Can you hurry, sir?” There are still a lot of streets to do. »
He will go without much fine, but the driver who brought the ticket to the inheritance, which he promises to pass on to the ombone. When the teachers found him, he called time to speak to all his colleagues. Bringing the signers into the cabin, “I swear,” he swears. Until the next sprint?
Who takes care of the snow removal?
The traffic controllers are the controllers who report to the Contrôleroute Québec, the agency of the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) responsible for the enforcement of laws in the transportation of goods and people in the province.
