For visitors taking to the roads of Quebec, the degree of familiarity with the rules of the road will depend a lot on where the visitor is coming from: for drivers from the USA, things will seem pretty familiar; for drivers from other parts of Canada, they will be even more familiar. But from drivers from Europe there are a lot of points to watch out for – many of them common to much or all of North America.

• 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).