It took just one day after Victoria’s new 40km/h speed limit when passing emergency vehicles was introduced before a truck slammed into the rear of a sedan north-west of Melbourne last week.
Events leading up to the collision in Bacchus Marsh on July 2 began when a police divvy-van stopped along the Melbourne-bound lane of the Western Highway near the Lerderderg River bridges to help a broken down car about 7pm.
The driver of an oncoming Toyota saw police lights and proceeded to slow down, adhering to the new rule that came into effect the day before – requiring drivers to slow to 40km/h when passing parked emergency vehicles.
But a Hino truck travelling behind failed to slow down and smashed into the rear-end of the Toyota at high speed.
Bacchus Marsh-based Leading Senior Constable Shaun Woodhouse said it was lucky nobody was seriously injured as the Toyota was a write-off.
He called on all drivers to be aware of the new speed limits while passing emergency workers.
“The Toyota driver has slowed down because of the new laws but the truck behind saw it too late,” Senior Constable Woodhouse said.
An investigation is ongoing.
The RACV previously raised concerns about the new rule, with its roads and traffic manager Dave Jones saying last month that the law needed to be more clearly explained to road users.
– The Age
