The incident relates to a head-on crash where the accused man’s vehicle collided with the alleged victims’ vehicle on the wrong side of the road near Gilgandra.

He and his family were on their way back to Dubbo from Brisbane after an Easter holiday in 2006.

The accused, Zhudu Unal,

has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

A jury panel of eight men and four women was sworn in yesterday and the first witness, Dubbo Constable Justin Powell, was called to give evidence.

The Crown prosecutor told the jury that for the accused to be convicted, he must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused, Mr Unal either crossed the road due to fatigue, or that he had not been paying significant attention to his driving as he approached a sweeping left-hand bend.

The crash occurred about six kilometres north of Gilgandra on the Newell Highway at 9.30pm on April 17, 2006, the court heard.

The speed limit on that stretch of road was 110km/h at the time of the incident.

Mr Unal and another man had been taking turns driving the silver seven-seater four-wheel drive Toyota Kluger from Brisbane.

The alleged victims were travelling in the opposite direction in a red Holden Commodore.

Photographs of the two vehicles were shown to the court depicting the Kluger on its side and the Commodore off the road and in a gully.

Both vehicles were seriously damaged and there was a major intrusion on the driver’s side of the Commodore, the court heard.

A diagram of the crash scene was shown to the court, displaying gouge marks in the bitumen, tyre marks, fluid spills and the positions of the vehicles.

During his opening, the Crown prosecutor told the court the father was in the driver’s seat of the red Commodore and his son was seated behind him.

They both died as a result of the collision while the woman in the front seat allegedly suffered serious injuries to her face including the loss of an eye.

The defence also addressed the court, telling the jury that Mr Unal was a “most responsible person”, did not drink alcohol at all and had never committed a traffic offence.

He said the accused had been living in Australia since 1998 and was working at a friend’s shop in Dubbo in April 2006.

Constable Powell will continue giving evidence to the court today.