AA French tourist is dead, two are in hospital and another is facing criminal charges after a crash near the NSW-Queensland border.
Police say the male backpackers were looking for work grape-picking when they set out in their station wagon from Stanthorpe, Queensland, on Tuesday afternoon.
They drove down the New England Highway and a few minutes later the 25-year-old French driver went to turn into a property on the opposite side of the highway.
Officers says the station wagon turned into the path of an oncoming truck, which slammed into the side of the car.
A French passenger, 24, was killed on impact.
The station wagon driver and the other two passengers, aged 26 and 29, were taken to three different hospitals, all in a serious but stable condition.
The truck driver and passenger were uninjured.
Senior Sergeant Mark Ireland said that the scene had been particularly disturbing for officers.
"It's a tragic one, they're all tragic, but this one was particularly gruesome," he told AAP.
He said he and his officers have been trying for years to reduce the number of road accidents in the Granite Belt region, which frequently involve overseas visitors working seasonal jobs.
"We've tried a number of strategies to try to educate these people about road safety, but we're still amazed by their inattentiveness and poor driving skills," Sgt Ireland said.
"We do our best, but it just doesn't sink in a lot of the time."
Senior Sergeant Phill Percy went to the scene and says the crash was probably caused by a momentary lapse of attention.
"They were looking for a farm to work at they've gone 'look at this place' and then bang. There's nothing complicated in these things, that's how fast it happens," he told the Courier-Mail.
"Devastation-wise it's right up there with the worst car crashes I've seen.
"When I turned up there I just thought: 'What another waste of life'."
The French station wagon driver has since been released from hospital, but he has been charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death.
His passport has been confiscated and he is due to appear in the Stanthorpe Magistrates Court on Friday.
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