Farmer Safety on the Road

 Tractor safety…combine safety…etc., etc.,  it’s important on the roads too. About 6 months ago I was talking to local farmer Sid Freedman and he told me about the importance of having drivers watch out for farm machinery when it’s on the road. That motivated me to help the Idaho Farm bureau to produce a little spot, which you may have seen, asking drivers to be aware, to be patient and to be courteous to farmers who are using roads to move their equipment.

 Now, one focus of this year’s National Farm Safety and Health Week –is the subject of roadways -  traffic needs about 1000 feet of warning to avoid a slow moving vehicle - front and back. On curvy roads the only way to accomplish this is to have a lead and trailing vehicle. One final note - this one on tractors - only half of the farm tractors used in the U.S. are equipped with life-saving rollover protective structures with seatbelts. Here’s Extension Farm Safety Specialist Bob Aherin: One area of fatalities is on the roadway, we’re moving our equipment on the road, usually the fatalities occur occasionally to farmers but also to the driving public who run into our wagons, combines, field cultivators and it’s very important that we drive defensively. , not driving our moving equipment at night if at all possible the risk is much higher because it’s harder for people to see us.