Sometimes taking your farm equipment on the road is unavoidable, and many farmers may encounter drivers not familiar with sharing the road with farm equipment. While it may be easy to get flustered, it’s important to remain calm and remember that we’re all just trying to get somewhere as safely as we can.
The key to confidence for you and your neighbors on the roadway can start with a conversation. Pop by to chat or give them a phone call to let them know you’ll be moving equipment on the road, and share some tips to make you both feel safe.
- Let them know your busy times of year
While spring and fall might seem like second nature to farmers, neighbors and other members of the community might not recognize those times as planting and harvest.
“We always try to explain what we’re doing and break it down so it’s easy for our non-farming neighbors to understand, especially if we’re stopping traffic so we can get through an intersection or something like that,” he says. says Ralph Lott, II, New York soybean farmer and soy checkoff farmer-leader.
“Here in the Finger Lakes region, we see a lot of visitors during the fall when the leaves start to change and people start to visit the local wineries,” says Lott.
In 2018, the Finger Lakes region saw 5.56 million visitors, staying an average 3.4 days and 2.4 nights according to the Ithaca Times.
Lott says the increased travel and number of motorists on the road don’t go unnoticed, but after decades of farming in the region under his belt, he knows how to handle it.
“We’ve been farming here for 40 years, so we’ve grown with the traffic. Most of our local neighbors know what we’re doing, but tourists sometimes don’t understand.”
- Share some passing techniques
It’s not shocking that farm equipment goes slower than the average passenger vehicle, causing potential frustration to motorists stuck behind the equipment.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has shown that agriculture, forestry and fishing as an occupational group have the third highest rate of work-related roadway crashes.
“We don’t worry about oncoming traffic so much as the people behind us that are tired of following and try to pass us just about the time we want to pull over to make a wide turn into a narrow farm driveway,” Lott says.
A study by New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health identified 203 agriculture-related vehicle crashes involving 381 vehicles and 482 people. Of those incidents, 91.6% caused property damage, while 36.0% caused injury. The fatality rate for roadway vehicle crashes was nearly five times as great for agriculture versus non-agriculture crashes.
“To the people that are following us, I always tell them to look at the driver in the tractor cab. A lot of times, we’ll point if we need to make a left turn or give a signal for what we’re about to do,” Lott adds.
Find Me Driving, a road education resource, encourages drivers to think “SAM” when they encounter a slow moving vehicle. The site shares safety tips you can use to chat with your fellow drivers:
- Find the sign. The orange triangular Slow Moving Vehicle sign warns drivers of a vehicle traveling under 25 mph. The sign is exclusively for SMV vehicles and acts as a warning for motorists to to slow down.
- Slow down. Rear-end collisions are the number one cause of farm vehicle crashes. When a driver sees a SMV, they should slow down immediately and increase following distance. If a driver is driving 55 mph and comes upon a SMV moving at 25 mph, it only takes 8 seconds to close a gap the length of a football field.
- Assess your surroundings. SMV operators often pull equipment behind them, which could impact their visibility. It’s important for motorists to remain vigilant of farm driveways, field roads and other places a SMV driver might be ready to turn into.
- Move with caution. SMVs are typically large and can be difficult to see around. Keep to the basics: Pass only if you can clearly see ahead of both you and the SMV. Check to see if the SMV’s turn signal is on or if the vehicle slows down before passing. Don’t pass in a designated “No Passing Zone” or within 100 feet of any intersection, railroad crossing or tunnel, or if there are curves or hills ahead that may block your view.
“I encourage people to pause and think before passing. Maybe you’ll gain an extra 30 seconds getting to wherever you’re going, but it’s just not worth the risk,” Lott says. “We’ve all got a job to do out here, and getting someplace a few minutes earlier isn’t worth the risk for any of us.”
- Explain hand signals
While hand signals might be thought of as a thing of the past, there are farmers who find that they can be helpful to tell your fellow motorists what you’re about to do next — as long as they understand.
“We still use hand signals when we’re driving tractors,” Lott says. “I’ll stick my left arm out to let the traffic know I’m going to make a left turn because if I’m about to cross the road, I really need the people behind me to know.”
A straight-armed gesture to the left indicates a left turn. A right-angled gesture pointing up indicates a right turn, while pointing down indicates driver is stopping. These are a few easy things to explain and demonstrate to your neighbors, giving them a heads-up on the road.
Taking farm equipment on the road all boils down to confidence for everyone involved — confidence behind the wheel and confidence sharing these tips with your neighbors.
“You need to feel confident when you’re driving down the road and talking to your neighbors or visitors,” says Lott. “Everyone just needs to be thoughtful, and we’ll all get to where we’re going.”
This program is supported by the soy checkoff and multiple organizations in an effort to make rural roads safer for all drivers.
