A man who survived a bus crash that killed 10 others after a wedding has challenged the driver in court to look at him while delivering his victim impact statement.

Indigenous readers are advised that this article contains the names and images of people who have died.

Ten people died and 25 other suffered varying injuries when the bus flipped on its side and hit a guard rail at Greta in the New South Wales Hunter Valley on June 11, 2023.

The driver, Brett Andrew Button, pleaded guilty in May to multiple counts of dangerous driving occasioning death, dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm, driving furiously, and causing bodily harm to survivors.

Victim impact statements are being heard in the Newcastle District Court for a second day as the 59-year-old awaits sentencing.

"When you said 'This next part is going to be fun', that was the last time my back and neck felt normal … nothing fun for me," crash survivor Drew El Moussali told the court.

Mr El Moussali then challenged Button to look at him.

"Your honour, can you please ask the defendant to look at me and at least show some respect?

"Your lack of respect reminds me of the night.

"You just stood there with your hands in your pockets — I looked at you as you appeared smug and proud of yourself of all the people you killed."

Singleton locals Nadene McBride, her 22-year-old daughter Kyah, Andrew Scott, 35, and his wife, Lynan, 33, Tori Cowburn, 29 and Rebecca Mullen, 26 all died in the crash.

Also killed were Kane Symons, 21, from Tasmania, Zach Bray, 29 from Byron Bay, Angus Craig, 28, from Queensland, and Darcy Bulman, 30, from Melbourne.

Lives shattered

Ms Cowburn's mother, Kay Welsh, gritted her teeth and sobbed while describing the accident in her victim impact statement.

"To speak of her in the past tense shatters my soul and breaks my heart," she told the court.

Ms Welsh was an emergency contact and automatically got a message from her daughter's phone when it detected a major accident.

"I got the message and it read 'crash detected SOS' … showing a map highlighting where the crash was detected," she told the court.

Ms Welsh went to the crash site fearing the worst and returned home hours later after Ms Cowburn's death was confirmed.

"At that moment I screamed out, 'No, no, this isn't happening' and fell to my knees … crying uncontrollably," she said.

Nadene McBride and her daughter Kyah were also among those who lost their lives on the way back from the wedding.

Helen Arthur, Nadene's sister, sobbed as she read her victim impact statement in the court.

"Until the 11th June 2023, I never was a victim or felt like I had been. I definitely am now," she said.

"On that day my whole life was shattered.

"Losing Nadene, my sister, my best friend, my saviour, was the worst day of my life."

Ms Arthur said she struggled to function every day.

'Beacon of light'

Steve Symons fought back tears as he described the loss of his son Kane Symons, 21, who was the youngest of the victims.

"His death has shattered our lives in a manner that cannot be captured," Mr Symons said.

"It was a loss that was cruel and unjust.

"He was a beacon of light, warmth and kindness."

Jacqui Varasdi's son Zach Bray also died in the crash.

She told the court he and his friends did the safe thing and had a "plan B" to get home safely from the wedding.

"That was the plan but my son, who did everything right, still didn't make it home," Ms Varasdi said.

Facts tendered to the court detail witness statements saying that Button was driving "too fast" and "hot", and that some urged him to slow down before the crash at Greta.

Up to 60 people are expected to give victim impact statements in the Newcastle District Court over three days, which Judge Roy Ellis said would be highly emotional.

"Never before have so many people been killed and injured in a single motor vehicle incident," he said.

Judge Ellis also told the court the sentence, which will be delivered after victim impact statements, will be lengthy.