Push rural road safety
Written by admin on September 17, 2009 – 6:58 pm -Rural road safety is the focus of this year’s National Farm Safety and Health Week Sept. 20-26, noted University of Wyoming Professor Randy Weigel, Wyoming AgrAbility project director. Theme for the week is “Rural Roadway Safety: Alert, Aware and Alive.”
When driving down the rural roads motorists may encounter farm equipment, said Weigel, of the College of Agriculture and human development specialist with the UW Cooperative Extension Service.
Agricultural equipment is becoming bigger. As farms become larger in size and spread out over more area, farmers are spending more time traveling with their tractors and equipment on public roads.
Agricultural equipment on the road can be hazardous to both farmers and motorists, he noted. Most farm equipment usually travels 25 mph or less in areas where the speed limit may be posted at 65 mph. A motorist going 65 mph on the highway approaching farm equipment at 15 mph can be on the equipment’s “back door” in less than five seconds (while traveling more than length of a football field).
“This does not give the motorist much time to react,” said Weigel. “According to the National Safety Council, roadway collisions that involve farm vehicles on U.S. roads total more than 15,000 per year. More than two-thirds of these collisions involve the farm vehicle being hit from behind, but collisions can also occur when the tractor and equipment try to make left turns or by sideswipes.”
More than 90 percent of these collisions occur in the daylight and on dry roads. Usually, when the fatality occurs, the victim is the equipment operator.
Weigel offers the following suggestions:
Be alert
Upon seeing farm equipment, slow down. Even though farmers take safety precautions to ensure their machinery is easily visible, motorists should take the initiative and drive carefully and not assume they are visible to the farmer. If motorists follow too closely behind farm vehicles, they are most likely obscured from the farmer’s view.
Be aware
Farmers use large pieces of equipment. As farms increase in size, so does equipment size, as a rule. Most equipment is larger than the travel lanes, and drivers of vehicles cannot pass safely at fast speeds.
“Stop and let the equipment pass, then continue on your way,” noted Weigel. “Do not assume if the farmer pulls to the right side of the road he or she is going to make a right-hand turn. Due to the size of equipment, the farmer must move to the right before making a wide left turn.”
When meeting farm vehicles at or on a bridge, motorists need to give the farmer enough room to completely exit the bridge before they begin to cross. There is not enough room for both.
Be alive
Be patient, Weigel advised. Farmers will attempt to pull off the side of the road at the first opportunity so motorists can pass. Steep ditches, soft shoulders or wet conditions could cause a farm vehicle to tip over when pulling over to the side to allow drivers to pass. Do not follow too closely so the farmer is unable to see your vehicle or if the farmer has to come to a quick stop.
Remember, farmers are not operating equipment on rural roads to slow you down intentionally.
“Rural road rage can be negated if everyone takes the responsibility to have extra patience, careful driving habits and use high-visibility markings and lighting,” Weigel said. “A collision with a slow-moving vehicle versus a fast-moving vehicle will more than likely be a fatal crash. So remember to be alert, be aware and be alive.”
Wyoming AgrAbility is part of a national program administered through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It is focused on promoting independence for members of the agricultural community who have disabilities resulting from injury, illness, aging or other causes.
For more information on safety on the farm or ranch or information on how Wyoming AgrAbility may be able to help, call toll-free (866) 395-4986, e-mail agrability@uwyo.edu or visit www.uwyo.edu/agrability.
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