Victoria's controversial law forcing motorists to slow to 40km/h when passing emergency vehicles has been slammed by Wodonga-based MP Tim Quilty, who says "following the law should not put your life at risk".
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Speaking in Victorian Parliament this week, Mr Quilty described how traffic was frequently forced to slow down from 110km/h "when passing a police car out raising revenue" during his trips up and down the Hume Freeway.
He called on the government to scrap the law and replace it with a directive to simply slow down and move into the right lane when safe to do so.
"Anyone with any sense rejects the rule," he said.
"We have all seen the videos of dangerous trucks swerving out of the way, nearly causing accidents.
"Over the new year a police officer was nearly killed when hit by a car while he was parked on the side of the road - this rule is causing the kind of accidents it is meant to prevent.
"We know the rule is unsafe, it is time for it to go."
Speed limits on the Hume Freeway have been a point of debate for Mr Quilty, who has previously advocated for the limit to be raised to 140km/h.
Roads Minister Jaala Pulford defended the 40km/h law, which she said was put in place to protect "vulnerable road users" outside their cars, and questioned Mr Quilty's comments about raising revenue.
"The primary concern here, the overriding concern here, is keeping the Victorian community safe," she said.
"The rationale for the rule that you do not like is exactly the same rationale that we apply in school zones, in shopping centres ... Where you have people moving around, it is not a great idea and it is not safe to be having people whizzing by at 100km/h.
"We think this rule is important, we think it keeps police and other road users safe."
The minister said she understood new rules can take time to get used to for motorists.
"What I would like is for everybody to be very familiar with the road rules, to be familiar with their surrounds, to be alive to changing traffic conditions and to be paying attention to the road rules that we already have," she said.
"We have a real challenge on our hands with the loss of lives on our roads in Victoria."
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