A tractor pulls a grain cart along a rural Indiana road in this undated photo.
Indiana State Department of Agriculture photo
As farmers begin their fall harvests, local and state officials are reminding motorists to be safe as more agricultural equipment is seen on the road.
Drivers should expect to see large combines, tractors pulling grain carts, trailers and other agricultural equipment on the roadways. These vehicles are wide, sometimes taking up most of the road, and often travel at speeds no greater than 25 mph.
“The fall harvest season is certainly an exciting and busy time for farmers and motorists,” Don Lamb, director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, said in a news release. “By working together to practice alert driving, we can all make it home safely to our families each night.”
Officials want to increase roadway safety by encouraging careful driving and taking the correct steps when safely navigating around large farm equipment on the roads this fall. There will be a lot of movement of equipment down state highways and country roads as farmers go from Point A to Point B or field to field, said Mike Pruitt, Bargersville Fire Deputy Chief.
Some complications tend to happen when farm equipment meets a vehicle where somebody is in a hurry and the farmer is trying to get their field. Sometimes there’s not enough room for the two vehicles to pass each other on the roadway, leaving people with two choices for what to do next, Pruitt said.
“We have a choice to be patient and work with each other to safely travel down the road,” he said. “That might be as simple as just, if you’re in a car, finding a driveway or a parking lot to pull into to allow the farmer to pass, or the farmer finding a safe area that they can pull their large pieces of equipment off to allow traffic to pass.”
The other choice is to be impatient, where the driver is trying to pass the farm equipment in a very narrow area or is trying to challenge the farmer to see who gets the right of way, Pruitt said.
That is a dangerous game.
“That’s where we run into problems with people being involved in accidents, serious injuries and even deaths in some cases,” Pruitt said.
In 2021, the Indiana State Police reported 296 crashes involving farm equipment and other motor vehicles that resulted in 83 injuries and 3 fatalities. The number of statewide crashes in 2022 did drop to 284, however, the number of injuries increased to 84 and the number of fatalities increased to 7, officials said.
As the urban and rural areas of the county continue to intermix, there may be residents who have never experienced driving down roads and meeting heavy farm equipment. Patience and common sense are key for everyone, Pruitt said.
“You’re not going to win a challenge with a large piece of farm machinery, so take that time just to pull off for a few minutes,” Pruitt said.
Farmers are usually very good about eventually pulling over if there’s a line of traffic, but drivers should know that they have to have an area to pull over to first. Pruitt, who grew up on a farm and drove heavy equipment down roadways, recalled times when vehicles have crowded him to try to get by.
“To avoid an accident, I (would) pull over and struck a couple of mailboxes at times, hit a road sign or dropped the equipment off in a ditch,” Pruitt said. “There’s only certain places farmers can pull over, and drivers have to understand that so that we don’t have any type of accidents.”
Pruitt also encourages drivers to be careful as they drive through areas with tall standing corn that can obstruct views. As drivers approach four-way intersections, they may not realize it’s a two-way stop and may not see the farm equipment coming down the road that is blocked by the corn.
“There could be a collision,” he said. “Anytime you’re approaching intersections, especially out in the country, you need to really slow down at those to make sure there’s no farm equipment that’s moving through that area.”
Farmers work all hours, and this includes late at night. Drivers should be cautious of moving equipment then as well, Pruitt said.
“If you see (equipment) that may be moving anywhere from 10 to 25 miles an hour down the roadway, you could come up on that farm equipment rather quickly,” he said. “We’ve seen that happen here in the Bargersville area where people have come up on farm equipment too fast misjudging the speed and literally ran right into the back of the farm equipment.”
Farmers also need to make sure the vehicles and equipment they’re using are stocked with warning devices so drivers can see the equipment before it’s too late, Pruitt said.
Pruitt’s best piece of advice for drivers is patience. Everyone is often in a hurry to get from Point A to Point B, and drivers should not add to farmers’ already existing stress levels during harvest season by making it difficult for them to travel, he said.
On the flip side, farmers should also be fair to drivers who are traveling on the roads for whatever reason that may be. They have just as much of a right on the road as anybody else does, Pruitt said.
“We have to work together to make sure we don’t have any serious accidents in our community where someone gets really injured or loses their life,” Pruitt said.
HARVEST SAFETY TIPS
Here’s some tips on what drivers should do when they see farm equipment on the roads this fall:
- Slow down if you see agricultural equipment on the roadways.
- Be alert. Farm equipment is wide, sometimes taking up most of the road.
- Be careful when passing. Do not pass in a designated “No Passing Zone” or within 100 feet of any intersection, railroad grade crossing, bridge, elevation structure or tunnel.
- Do not try to pass a slow-moving vehicle on the left without ensuring that the vehicle is not planning a left turn. While it may appear that the driver is pulling over for you to pass, they could be actually preparing to turn. You will drive right into its path, endangering yourself and the farmer.
- Avoid tailgating, as some farm equipment might have to make sudden stops along the road.
- Allow plenty of time to get to a destination, be aware of alternate routes and avoid distractions.
- Be aware that agricultural equipment may be moving on the roadways at night.
- Farmers will pull over when they are able to let motorists pass, but it may take time for them to get to a safe place to do so.
Source: Indiana State Department of Agriculture and Indiana State Police
