Sharing The Roads With Farm Equipment

Sharing The Roads With Farm Equipment

Susan Allen
Susan Allen
I'm Susan Allen Harvest season is well underway and that means it's time to occasionally share the road with slow moving farm vehicles: Whether the sharing of traffic lanes takes place in the more congested areas in the Westside or the wide open spaces of rural Washington Katy Coba of the Department of Agriculture has some good advice:

COBA: "Motorists hear a lot about, the summertime and safe driving, a lot more drivers on the road, often that's the time you have road construction. So they are constantly hearing the message, slow down. This is the exact same message. If you see farm equipment on the road, we just need you to slow down."

It is legal for farmers to drive equipment on public roads. Farmers normally try to avoid using the higher traveled roads as much as possible, but sometimes that just can't happen. Here is some advice for farmers as well:

COBA: "Extra caution, look around you before you are turning right or left, realize there are going to be some motorists that are going to be irritated and in places where you can pull over and go by, let them do that."

We interviewed Extension Farm Safety Specialist Bob Aherin a while back who reminded me that while fatalities occur occasionally to farmers more often it's the public that run into the combines, sprayers and tractors, so farmers and their employees need to drive defensively. ,

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