Slow down to keep road workers safe
Every day there are workers on our roads working to improve them and make them safer for us. It's important when you're approaching road works that you slow down to within the posted speed limit and remain within the limit until you have passed through the works and have passed signage that indicates you can increase your speed.
Slowing down reduces the risk of injury to workers and helps us all to get home safely.
It's the law to follow the posted speed limit and you can be fined for doing the wrong thing.
Slow to 40kmh keep emergency services workers safe
When you see an emergency vehicle or first responder stopped on the roadside you need to slow down to 40kmh to pass them safely.
Emergency workers and first responders are often required to stop on the side of the road in order to provide assistance to others, to manage emergency situations or to keep the community safe by stopping dangerous drivers.
The 40km/h speed limit has been extended to include breakdown services and roadside assistance vehicles.
For more information about the road rule visit the Transport Victoria website.
Slowing down for road workers
We all deserve to get home safely, so when you see road workers, slow down, give them a wave and only speed up after you have passed through the works and signage indicates it's safe to speed up.
Drive to the posted speed limit
It is law to slow down to within the posted speed limit when passing other roadside workers. Road work speed limits are designed to keep both drivers and road workers safe.
Reduced speed limits are in place around road works and while there are people working along the road side. You may see temporary speed signs showing lower speed limits when approaching roadworks or other works that are being undertaken. You need to slow to the temporary limit for all works including those being undertaken by council workers or when people are conducting repairs to infrastructure and powerlines.
When you are approaching any works you need to take note of the posted speed limit and slow down safely. You need to continue driving within the reduced speed limit until you pass a sign showing a different speed limit.
Even when nobody is working on the road there can still be dangers from the work underway.
These dangers can include:
- Narrow lane widths
- Barriers very close to traffic lanes
- Deep trenches
- Loose gravel on the road
- Soft road surfaces, or
- Humps and drops in the road
Some dangers are easy to spot during the day, but much harder to see at night. A lower posted speed limit gives you more time to see the danger and avoid a crash.
Slow to 40 when approaching law enforcement, emergency and incident response vehicles
On July 1, 2025 Road Rule 79A, known as the 40km/hr flashing lights rule, was expanded to include more vehicles like accident towing, breakdown towing, roadside assistance and all incident response services.
You are legally required to slow down to 40km/h when passing emergency, incident response and roadside assistance vehicles that are stationary or moving slower than 10km/h and have flashing lights or an alarm sounding.
When you see flashing lights (red, blue, magenta or yellow) and the vehicle is stopped or moving slower than 10km/h you must:
- start to safely slow down to 40km/h (check your rear-view mirror first, especially on high-speed roads)
- Pass the scene at 40km/h speed and be able to stop if directed
- Return to the legal speed limit after you are a safe distance from the scene
When the rule applies
You must slow down:
- for all law enforcement, emergency vehicles and incident response vehicles with red, blue or magenta (purple) lights as well as for vehicles with amber (yellow) lights. These include:
- emergency vehicles (including ambulance, fire services, state emergency services)
- enforcement vehicles (including Victoria Police)
- accident towing
- breakdown towing
- roadside assistance
- incident response services
- escort vehicles
- on all roads, including freeways. You must slow down even if the law enforcement, emergency or special purpose vehicle is in the service lane or on a dividing strip.
- in both directions on roads that are divided by single or double white lines.
You don’t need to slow down if you’re travelling on the opposite side of a road separated by a median strip, e.g. an area that’s covered in grass or includes a wire rope, concrete barrier or painted island.
The rule establishes a required standard for safe behaviour and further ensures emergency workers can get on with their important work without worrying about being struck by a passing vehicle or debris.
More information about the road rule can be found on the Transport Victoria website .
Keeping clear of law enforcement and emergency vehicles
If a police, emergency, enforcement or escort vehicle has its red, blue or magenta lights flashing or its siren on, you must:
- Move out of its way
- Give way and stop if necessary, even if you have a green traffic light.
You must also stop if twin red lights are flashing on a road, e.g. outside a fire or ambulance station. You can start driving again once the lights have stopped flashing and the road is clear of emergency or other vehicles.
In emergencies, law enforcement and other emergency vehicles are not required to follow the road rules.
Accidents and emergencies can happen anywhere
No matter what type of road you're on it's important to expect the unexpected. In an emergency situation it's not always possible for first responders to stop in a location that has good visibility. You should always drive to the conditions and if you see an emergency or enforcement vehicle then you need to slow down as quickly and as safely as possible.
Give space to emergency workers and reduce your speed even if you are on a road with multiple lanes. When you slow down you help to ensure that everyone can get home safely.
Emergency services workers and enforcement workers are doing their jobs to help protect all of us.
Slowing down for emergency and enforcement workers
Every day there are people working on or around our roads to make them safer for us. It's important that you slow down and give space to workers to avoid putting them at risk of injury or death.
We all deserve to get home safely, so when you see road works, slow down, give them a wave and only speed up after you have passed through the works and signage indicates it's safe to speed up.
Slow to 40 when approaching emergency vehicles
On July 1, 2017 Road Rule 79A, known as the 40km/hr flashing lights rule, was introduced to keep emergency and enforcement workers safe: a 40km/h speed limit applies when passing a stationary police vehicle, emergency vehicle, enforcement vehicle and escort vehicle with flashing lights or sounding an alarm.
Drivers must slow down to 40km/hr so they can stop safely when approaching and passing enforcement, emergency or escort vehicles that are stationary or moving slowly (less than 10km/h), and have either:
- Red and blue flashing lights
- Magenta (purple flashing lights)
- An alarm sounding.
Drivers must not exceed 40km/h when passing the vehicle and not increase their speed until a safe distance from the scene. The rule applies regardless of which lane you're in, even on multilane roads.
The rule does not apply to vehicles on the opposite side of a divided road (separated by a median strip) from an emergency or enforcement vehicle scene.
The rule establishes a required standard for safe behaviour and further ensures emergency workers can get on with their important work without worrying about being struck by a passing vehicle or debris.
Keeping clear of law enforcement and emergency vehicles
If a police, emergency, enforcement or escort vehicle has its red, blue or magenta lights flashing or its siren on, you must:
- Get out of its way
- Give way and stop if necessary, even if you have a green traffic light.
You must also stop if twin red lights are flashing on a road, e.g. outside a fire or ambulance station. You can start driving again once the lights have stopped flashing and the road is clear of emergency or other vehicles.
In emergencies, law enforcement and other emergency vehicles are not required to follow the road rules.
Accidents and emergencies can happen anywhere
No matter what type of road you're on it's important to expect the unexpected. In an emergency situation it's not always possible for first responders to stop in a location that has good visibility. You should always drive to the conditions and if you see an emergency or enforcement vehicle then you need to slow down as quickly and as safely as possible.
Give space to emergency workers and reduce your speed even if you are on a road with multiple lanes. When you slow down you help to ensure that everyone can get home safely.
Emergency services workers and enforcement workers are doing their jobs to help protect all of us.
Why has this rule been introduced?
Incidents on Victorian roads place first responders and others involved at a high risk of being struck by passing vehicles or debris.
Near misses are common. A recent survey of more than 1,600 emergency service and enforcement workers revealed that in the past three years:
- 17% had a ‘near miss’ involving a passing vehicle on four or more occasions
- 3% had been injured while evading a passing vehicle
- 8% had their vehicle struck by a passing vehicle
- 23% of those involved in an incident had consequential mental health issues.
The rule was introduced in line with the existing rules where you must give way to vehicles with red, blue and purple flashing lights. Yellow or amber lights weren't included as they can be used on a variety of vehicles for different reasons and may confuse drivers. While the rule doesn't cover tow trucks and others working close to the road, we would expect drivers to use common sense when passing hazards, such as broken down vehicles with tow trucks helping out, at a safe speed.
You can be fined if you don't obey this rule however Victoria Police's main goal is to educate everyone about safe speeds when passing incidents or hazards.
Obeying the speed limit
It's the law that you must adhere to the posted speed limit on our roads. In areas where road works are being undertaken the speed limit may be shown on electronic displays or other temporary signage.
You need to slow down to the speed limit that is shown on the signage and stay at or below this speed until you see signage that shows a different speed.
Speed limits in road works areas are enforceable and you can be fined for speeding. Mobile and fixed cameras may be operational in these zones or Victoria Police may be undertaking enforcement activities.
When you speed in road works zones you put yourself and others at risk.
Slow to 40kmh
Victoria Police is actively enforcing motorists slowing to 40km/h when passing a stationary emergency vehicle, breakdown services and roadside assistance vehicles with emergency lights flashing.
Drivers who ignore the rule will be fined – particularly those who make no attempt to reduce their speed.
Drivers can be detected by a laser or other speed measuring device, in-car video, and emergency workers can also make reports to police if they witness an incident.
Slowing down for road workers
We all deserve to get home safely, so when you see road workers, slow down, give them a wave and only speed up after you have passed through the works and signage indicates it's safe to speed up.
Drive to the posted speed limit
It is law to slow down to within the posted speed limit when passing other roadside workers. Road work speed limits are designed to keep both drivers and road workers safe.
Reduced speed limits are in place around road works and while there are people working along the road side. You may see temporary speed signs showing lower speed limits when approaching roadworks or other works that are being undertaken. You need to slow to the temporary limit for all works including those being undertaken by council workers or when people are conducting repairs to infrastructure and powerlines.
When you are approaching any works you need to take note of the posted speed limit and slow down safely. You need to continue driving within the reduced speed limit until you pass a sign showing a different speed limit.
Even when nobody is working on the road there can still be dangers from the work underway.
These dangers can include:
- Narrow lane widths
- Barriers very close to traffic lanes
- Deep trenches
- Loose gravel on the road
- Soft road surfaces, or
- Humps and drops in the road
Some dangers are easy to spot during the day, but much harder to see at night. A lower posted speed limit gives you more time to see the danger and avoid a crash.
Slow to 40 when approaching law enforcement, emergency and incident response vehicles
On July 1, 2025 Road Rule 79A, known as the 40km/hr flashing lights rule, was expanded to include more vehicles like accident towing, breakdown towing, roadside assistance and all incident response services.
You are legally required to slow down to 40km/h when passing emergency, incident response and roadside assistance vehicles that are stationary or moving slower than 10km/h and have flashing lights or an alarm sounding.
When you see flashing lights (red, blue, magenta or yellow) and the vehicle is stopped or moving slower than 10km/h you must:
- start to safely slow down to 40km/h (check your rear-view mirror first, especially on high-speed roads)
- Pass the scene at 40km/h speed and be able to stop if directed
- Return to the legal speed limit after you are a safe distance from the scene
When the rule applies
You must slow down:
- for all law enforcement, emergency vehicles and incident response vehicles with red, blue or magenta (purple) lights as well as for vehicles with amber (yellow) lights. These include:
- emergency vehicles (including ambulance, fire services, state emergency services)
- enforcement vehicles (including Victoria Police)
- accident towing
- breakdown towing
- roadside assistance
- incident response services
- escort vehicles
- on all roads, including freeways. You must slow down even if the law enforcement, emergency or special purpose vehicle is in the service lane or on a dividing strip.
- in both directions on roads that are divided by single or double white lines.
You don’t need to slow down if you’re travelling on the opposite side of a road separated by a median strip, e.g. an area that’s covered in grass or includes a wire rope, concrete barrier or painted island.
The rule establishes a required standard for safe behaviour and further ensures emergency workers can get on with their important work without worrying about being struck by a passing vehicle or debris.
More information about the road rule can be found on the Transport Victoria website .
Keeping clear of law enforcement and emergency vehicles
If a police, emergency, enforcement or escort vehicle has its red, blue or magenta lights flashing or its siren on, you must:
- Move out of its way
- Give way and stop if necessary, even if you have a green traffic light.
You must also stop if twin red lights are flashing on a road, e.g. outside a fire or ambulance station. You can start driving again once the lights have stopped flashing and the road is clear of emergency or other vehicles.
In emergencies, law enforcement and other emergency vehicles are not required to follow the road rules.
Accidents and emergencies can happen anywhere
No matter what type of road you're on it's important to expect the unexpected. In an emergency situation it's not always possible for first responders to stop in a location that has good visibility. You should always drive to the conditions and if you see an emergency or enforcement vehicle then you need to slow down as quickly and as safely as possible.
Give space to emergency workers and reduce your speed even if you are on a road with multiple lanes. When you slow down you help to ensure that everyone can get home safely.
Emergency services workers and enforcement workers are doing their jobs to help protect all of us.
Slowing down for emergency and enforcement workers
Every day there are people working on or around our roads to make them safer for us. It's important that you slow down and give space to workers to avoid putting them at risk of injury or death.
We all deserve to get home safely, so when you see road works, slow down, give them a wave and only speed up after you have passed through the works and signage indicates it's safe to speed up.
Slow to 40 when approaching emergency vehicles
On July 1, 2017 Road Rule 79A, known as the 40km/hr flashing lights rule, was introduced to keep emergency and enforcement workers safe: a 40km/h speed limit applies when passing a stationary police vehicle, emergency vehicle, enforcement vehicle and escort vehicle with flashing lights or sounding an alarm.
Drivers must slow down to 40km/hr so they can stop safely when approaching and passing enforcement, emergency or escort vehicles that are stationary or moving slowly (less than 10km/h), and have either:
- Red and blue flashing lights
- Magenta (purple flashing lights)
- An alarm sounding.
Drivers must not exceed 40km/h when passing the vehicle and not increase their speed until a safe distance from the scene. The rule applies regardless of which lane you're in, even on multilane roads.
The rule does not apply to vehicles on the opposite side of a divided road (separated by a median strip) from an emergency or enforcement vehicle scene.
The rule establishes a required standard for safe behaviour and further ensures emergency workers can get on with their important work without worrying about being struck by a passing vehicle or debris.
Keeping clear of law enforcement and emergency vehicles
If a police, emergency, enforcement or escort vehicle has its red, blue or magenta lights flashing or its siren on, you must:
- Get out of its way
- Give way and stop if necessary, even if you have a green traffic light.
You must also stop if twin red lights are flashing on a road, e.g. outside a fire or ambulance station. You can start driving again once the lights have stopped flashing and the road is clear of emergency or other vehicles.
In emergencies, law enforcement and other emergency vehicles are not required to follow the road rules.
Accidents and emergencies can happen anywhere
No matter what type of road you're on it's important to expect the unexpected. In an emergency situation it's not always possible for first responders to stop in a location that has good visibility. You should always drive to the conditions and if you see an emergency or enforcement vehicle then you need to slow down as quickly and as safely as possible.
Give space to emergency workers and reduce your speed even if you are on a road with multiple lanes. When you slow down you help to ensure that everyone can get home safely.
Emergency services workers and enforcement workers are doing their jobs to help protect all of us.
Why has this rule been introduced?
Incidents on Victorian roads place first responders and others involved at a high risk of being struck by passing vehicles or debris.
Near misses are common. A recent survey of more than 1,600 emergency service and enforcement workers revealed that in the past three years:
- 17% had a ‘near miss’ involving a passing vehicle on four or more occasions
- 3% had been injured while evading a passing vehicle
- 8% had their vehicle struck by a passing vehicle
- 23% of those involved in an incident had consequential mental health issues.
The rule was introduced in line with the existing rules where you must give way to vehicles with red, blue and purple flashing lights. Yellow or amber lights weren't included as they can be used on a variety of vehicles for different reasons and may confuse drivers. While the rule doesn't cover tow trucks and others working close to the road, we would expect drivers to use common sense when passing hazards, such as broken down vehicles with tow trucks helping out, at a safe speed.
You can be fined if you don't obey this rule however Victoria Police's main goal is to educate everyone about safe speeds when passing incidents or hazards.
Obeying the speed limit
It's the law that you must adhere to the posted speed limit on our roads. In areas where road works are being undertaken the speed limit may be shown on electronic displays or other temporary signage.
You need to slow down to the speed limit that is shown on the signage and stay at or below this speed until you see signage that shows a different speed.
Speed limits in road works areas are enforceable and you can be fined for speeding. Mobile and fixed cameras may be operational in these zones or Victoria Police may be undertaking enforcement activities.
When you speed in road works zones you put yourself and others at risk.
Slow to 40kmh
Victoria Police is actively enforcing motorists slowing to 40km/h when passing a stationary emergency vehicle, breakdown services and roadside assistance vehicles with emergency lights flashing.
Drivers who ignore the rule will be fined – particularly those who make no attempt to reduce their speed.
Drivers can be detected by a laser or other speed measuring device, in-car video, and emergency workers can also make reports to police if they witness an incident.