Scotland’s Sport Minister Shona Robison was travelling in an official car when it was caught speeding on the country’s most dangerous road.
The official driver at the wheel of the Skoda Superb was snared on the A9 on June 5 last year.
The incident happened weeks before controversial plans to instal 100 average-speed cameras on a 136-mile stretch of the road between Inverness and Dunblane were revealed by Transport Minister Keith Brown.
Highland Labour MSP Dave Stewart said the revelation was “very embarrassing” for First Minister Alex Salmond and his government.
Neil Greig, of the Institute of Advanced Motorists, said it set a “pretty poor example because the government’s drivers should be the paradigm of well-trained drivers” .
Official figures showed that government drivers flouted the law on six occasions on roads including the A9, A82 and A90 between 2011-2013.
The incident involving Ms Robison happened near Dunblane.
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said the Dundee East SNP MSP was unaware at the time that her car had been caught speeding and the other vehicles caught were not carrying SNP ministers at the time.
“Three of the six offences involved the same member of staff,” she added.
“This person has completed an intensive advanced motorist training course as a result of these incidents.”
The spokeswoman said government drivers took road safety “very seriously” and received advanced training from both Police Scotland and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.
“During the three-year period covered here, government car service drivers undertook more than 27,000 journeys, indicating that such incidences are very rare,” she added.
Campaigners opposed to the £2.5million average-speed camera scheme have taken their fight to Holyrood and the public petitions committee is expected to discuss the issue shortly.
Petitioner Mike Burns, of Foyers, wants the government to investigate alternatives, such as the lane control and spacing control systems used in other parts of Europe.
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