Victoria won't reopen VW car death probe

A family's belief that a faulty Volkswagen car contributed to the death of a woman on a Melbourne freeway is not enough to reopen an inquest, a Victorian coroner has found.

Three years ago a coroner found Melissa Ryan, 32, was most likely distracted because she was talking on her phone when a B-double truck ran into the back of her Volkswagen Golf on the Monash Freeway in January 2011.

Following the finding, the family has repeatedly asked the Coroners Court to consider new facts and circumstances after other Volkswagen drivers reported problems with their cars rapidly decelerating.

Ms Ryan's stepfather believes her car malfunctioned and suddenly reduced speed.

In response to their latest written request on February 1 - their third since 2013 - deputy coroner Iain West on Friday said he would not reopen the inquest into Ms Ryan's death.

Mr West said a coroner could not reconsider another coroner's findings because the applicant was "not satisfied" with the original outcome.

He also said the material in the family's request had already been considered in an earlier request to reopen the inquest.

In 2014 then state coroner Ian Gray found evidence about Volkswagen drivers experiencing problems with their car were not "new" facts and circumstances, and had already been considered.

The original coroner, Heather Spooner, had sought information about possible systemic safety issues in the vehicle from both Volkswagen and the department of transport, but no safety issues were identified.