A police officer involved in a fatal pursuit in September 2015 had the year before been driving a police car when it crashed and was written off, an inquest has heard.

The fleeing driver, 24-year-old Timothy Smith-Brown, died on September 4 last year when his car ran a red light at speed and crashed. His passenger and heavily pregnant girlfriend was taken to hospital, where she gave birth.

On Wednesday, the third day of an inquest into Mr Smith-Brown's death, questioning turned to the experience of the police officers involved in the Drakeford Drive pursuit.

The inquest heard Senior Constable Ben Stone, who was driving the police car, had been selected to complete an advanced driver's course, which he passed in June that year, that allowed him to enter into pursuits and drive a more powerful police car.

His passenger had recently graduated from the police training college and was on his second shift as a sworn officer, having previously worked in police operations.

Senior Constable Stone told the inquest, under questioning by counsel assisting the Coroner, Ken Archer, of two incidents in which he had been involved while on duty in 2014.

In one, he was the passenger in a pursuit during which the fleeing driver mounted a median strip and crashed into a tree. In another, he was driving a police car that – responding to a disturbance with its lights and sirens on – crossed Northbourne Avenue on Alinga Street and crashed into another car. He said both cars were written off after their airbags were activated.

An in-car video of the fatal pursuit was again examined in court.

Mr Archer asked the senior constable if he thought it was dangerous how Mr Smith-Brown had driven on to a grass median strip, and then pulled back in front of traffic at Athllon Drive.

He conceded it was a dangerous manoeuvre.

Did it cause you concern? Mr Archer asked.

"Not at that stage, no," he said.

At another crossroad, Mr Smith-Brown pulled into a bike lane to overtake several cars banked up at the intersection as the light turned green.

Senior Constable Stone said he did not think that action was inherently dangerous, because the man had moved smoothly from right to left, slowed down and negotiated the intersection without incident.

He agreed the first time they had communicated their speed to the pursuit controller at police headquarters was when they were travelling at about 160km/h. Drakeford Drive has a speed limit of 80km/h.

Senior Constable Stone accepted the speeds, which passed 170kms/h, were high, but told Mr Archer he had felt comfortable driving at those levels.

He said he decided to terminate the pursuit when he saw the red lights at the Boddington Crescent intersection in the distance. The video shows the police car braking as the lights come into view.

That intersection was where the fatal crash happened.

The AFP's representative, Rob Bhalla, and Mr Smith-Brown's family's representative, Darryl Perkins, did not have the opportunity on Wednesday to cross-examine Senior Constable Stone.

Coroner Peter Morrison adjourned the hearing, which is now scheduled to continue at a later date in February.