Road signallers across Quebec are calling on drivers pay attention to them after one of their colleagues was hit and killed earlier this month.

About two dozen signallers gathered Saturday in Beloeil, Que., where 54-year-old Lynda Lizotte lived. She died Dec. 5 after being hit by a car on Highway 223 in Saint-Paul-de-l'Île-aux-Noix, about 60 kilometres south of Montreal.

"We risk our lives every day," said Nancy Boulanger, a road signaller of nearly 25 years who was at the demonstration.

"We're not here to be nuisances."

The association for road signallers in the province says Lizotte's death was the third in three months, and that hundreds of signallers have been injured in recent years.

The association, known by its French acronym ATSRQ, is demanding more awareness and respect from drivers.

A road sign is modified to depict a gravestone at the demonstration. (Valeria Cori-Manocchio/CBC)

"We want to send the message to drivers: it's enough with hitting signallers," said association president Jean-François Dionne.

"We are humans, we are not garbage bags."

According to Quebec's automobile insurance board, the SAAQ, ignoring the instructions of a road signaller can cost drivers between $200 and $400.

Dionne says motorists are so used to seeing construction zones and orange cones during their drive that some don't alter their driving style, or aren't even paying attention.

The association plans to raise more awareness about the issue in the new year.