Victoria's Attorney-General has been asked to launch an investigation into the issues raised by a coronial inquest into the death of a young woman who died when her Volkswagen Golf appeared to stop suddenly on a Melbourne freeway in 2011.

The family of Volkswagen driver Melissa Ryan had serious concerns about the company informing the coroner that it had received no reports about its manual cars experiencing sudden deceleration.

Key points: Melissa Ryan died in 2011 when her Volkswagen Golf slowed suddenly on Melbourne freeway

Melissa Ryan died in 2011 when her Volkswagen Golf slowed suddenly on Melbourne freeway Coroner suggested driver's distraction may have prompted deceleration of 70kph+

Coroner suggested driver's distraction may have prompted deceleration of 70kph+ Family wants Attorney-General to investigate complaints about deceleration in other Volkswagen vehicles

With the carmaker now in the sights of authorities after admitting to using emission-cheating software, Volkswagen is facing renewed questions over information it gave to the 2013 inquest into Ms Ryan's death.

The inquest heard the 32-year-old driver died when her Golf slowed suddenly on a Melbourne Freeway in January, 2011, resulting in a crash.

"We just want justice for our daughter," her mother Liz O'Donnell said.

"We don't feel we received that, and justice for all those people out there still driving."

Ms Ryan's GTI Golf lost speed from 100 kilometres per hour to just 31 kilometres per hour, resulting in her car being hit from behind by a truck.

The truck driver was not charged, and he told police and the inquest that Ms Ryan's car "just stopped" in front of him without brake lights.

The inquest triggered a significant public response, with more than 300 drivers coming forward to tell how their cars had suddenly lost power, including several drivers who had the same make and model car as Ms Ryan.

"Three hundred people from the community who we don't know, have freely come forward and said 'well, sudden deceleration happened in our car' and when we know 37 of them were manuals, 182 were petrol-fuelled, 136 were Golf, so that says this is a contested issue," Ms Ryan's stepfather Phil O'Donnell said.

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In the weeks after the inquest, Volkswagen recalled its 'direct shift gearbox', or 'DSG' cars.

But the recall did not cover Ms Ryan's model of car, which was a manual.

Coroner Heather Spooner then delayed her inquest finding to seek more information from Volkswagen, and asked the carmaker if it had received any reports of rapid deceleration in its manual cars.

The coroner accepted the company's assurances it had not received any reports about problems with its manual cars.

She also accepted information from the Department of Infrastructure and Transport that it had not been able to establish systemic issues with manual cars based on complaints it had received from the public.

Melissa Ryan's mother and stepfather, Liz and Phil O'Donnell, say they were distressed by the result of the inquest. ( ABC )

"We might never find out, but the thing is, we just don't feel we've been heard," Ms O'Donnell said.

"We had witnesses who weren't even taken to the stand.

"We came away feeling quite distressed that they weren't interested in listening to what we put forward, and that's very distressing."

In delivering her finding, Ms Spooner, who has since retired, found Ms Ryan may have been distracted because she was speaking on her hands-free phone at the time of the accident.

Lawyer Gary Hevey assisted the family with a brief of information that will be handed to the Attorney-General.

"I don't think that the coroner's finding, that [Ms Ryan] was distracted by the telephone call, really holds water," Mr Hevey told the ABC.

"All of us know, we might drop five or 10 kilometres per hour when driving because of distraction, that's possible.

"But, to drop from 100 to 31, to me, is something that does need further investigation."

Family's bid to reopen inquest rejected

Last year, the Victorian Coroner's Court rejected Ms Ryan's family's request for the inquest to reopen.

Mr Hevey said he believed the family was right to continue to pursue the matter.

"After the hearing closed, in my view, it would have been preferable for the hearing to be reopened to properly question, first, the number of complaints that were indicated about Volkswagen motor vehicles and deceleration points and, secondly, the response from Volkswagen itself that they had received no complaints," he said.

"And in failing to open those things up to the Ryan family, I can understand that they feel they have been denied natural justice."

A spokeswoman for Victorian Attorney-General Martin Pakula released a brief statement to the ABC before receiving the family's petition.

"The Attorney-General does not conduct independent reviews of court proceedings and has no specific powers that may be exercised with respect to this type of request," the spokeswoman said.

Mr Hevey said while the Attorney-General could not intervene in the court system, he did have broad investigative powers at his disposal.

"The Attorney-General has the power to launch an inquiry into any issues of public interest, and this may be a proper case where he should consider that possibility," he said.

Volkswagen 'has always fully cooperated'

In an email to the ABC, Volkswagen's general manager of communications in Australia, Karl Gehling, said the coroner had found "Melissa's vehicle did not contribute to the cause of the accident".

"After four months of further investigation, Judge Gray from the Victorian Coroner's Court wrote to the family of Ms Ryan on Monday 29th December, 2014, to inform them of the Court's determination not to reopen the case," he said.

"Volkswagen has always stated, in line with the findings, that there are no systemic issues with manual vehicles that could cause a sudden loss of power.

"I would like to also remind you that Volkswagen Group Australia has always fully cooperated with the authorities and has actively assisted the Coroner's Court in its investigations at all times.

"I would encourage you to contact the Coroner's Court to receive its official responses to both investigations in the interest of fair and accurate reporting."