A truck with a 40-ft trailer driving on the Salalah to Muscat highway turned left into the petrol station at Haima. As the truck crossed the left lane an overtaking third party saloon car hit the underside of the trailer. Three of the occupants died on the spot. The fourth was very seriously injured. The saloon car was overtaking the truck at a speed estimated between 150 and 160 kph in an area where overtaking is forbidden.

The Failures:

• Third party not following traffic rules: Overtaking in the wrong lane at high speed.

Lateral Learning Points:

• Turning left:do not assume that if the road is clear ahead that it is safe to turn. Someone could be overtaking you, even across chevrons and across continuous white lines.Blind-spot: in addition to checking the rear view mirror always glance back over the left shoulder to double check that the road is clear before proceeding to turn.
• Traffic rules: always adhere to them!!