Hannah Francis inquest: Driver admits lies, says he 'forgot' to make contact with girl's mum

Emergency services worked to help the injured in the aftermath of a fatal bus crash near Tūroa skifield. Photo / Fenella Murphy

A bus driver was going too fast around a hairpin turn before 11-year-old Hannah Francis was killed, an inquest lawyer has suggested.

Hannah died on the way to hospital after the Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bus crashed on July 28, 2018.

The bus driver, who has name suppression, has admitted lying multiple times, even on a competency document he signed just one day before the central North Island crash.

He continued giving evidence in Auckland on Wednesday, after telling the inquest the bus brakes failed and the vehicle became uncontrollable.

The driver claimed to have "totally forgotten" to follow up with police who'd liaised with Hannah's mother Michelle Bruton.

Police in February 2019 told the driver Bruton would like to hear from him.

The driver told the inquest he had wanted to make contact with Hannah's mother.

But nothing happened for two weeks, and police followed up with a text to him.

The driver told the inquest he simply forgot to send any message for Bruton.

The driver's training also came under scrutiny on Wednesday.

About 30 people were on the bus the day Hannah died.

Chris Wilkinson-Smith, counsel for NZ Police, asked the driver about a safety manual.

"When you've got that busload of snowboarders and skiers, adults and children you still hadn't read that whole manual, had you?"

The driver admitted he'd only partially read the manual.

He also admitted to lying on a Ruapehu Alpine Lifts driver competency document he signed just a day before the fatal crash.

The point at which the brakes started failing, and number of times the driver pumped the brakes, are still matters of contention.

Hannah's father Matt Francis has said problems with the 1994 Mitsubishi Fuso bus started at a sharp hairpin bend.

Soon after the crash, the driver told police he'd taken the hairpin in third gear.

But on Wednesday he said that was a lie, and he'd taken the turn in second gear.

David Boldt, counsel assisting the coroner, suggested the driver was used to taking the hairpin in third gear, in a light bus.

Boldt on Wednesday morning suggested the driver took the hairpin in third gear on July 28 even though the bus was full.

"Halfway down the hairpin, you realised you were going too fast and you tried to change down, didn't you?" Boldt suggested.

The driver said that was untrue.

"And when you tried to change down, you missed your gear change and you found yourself in neutral."

The driver rejected that too, and said he'd never received complaints from staff or passengers about driving too fast.

The inquest continues.