Facts
On December 11, 1993, [L.] was driving his passenger car on the main road J 18 from Laufen towards Aesch. His vehicle was in third position in a column of four vehicles. After an S-curve outside the municipality of Duggingen, the fourth (rearmost) driver began to overtake the column of three vehicles in front of him. [L.] also accelerated and followed this overtaking vehicle. At this time, two vehicles were approaching on the opposite lane at a speed of approximately 70 km/h. The driver of the fourth vehicle overtook the two foremost vehicles in the column, which were traveling at the maximum permitted speed of 80 km/h, and merged back into the right lane in time. However, [L.] was unable to do so. This resulted in a violent head-on collision, in which [L.] was seriously injured.
Considerations
The Federal Court upheld the conviction of [L.] for a serious traffic violation under Art. 90 para. 2 RTA. The lower courts had determined that [L.] should not have initiated the overtaking maneuver under the given circumstances…