Another Tractor accident

Hello Everyone,


Another tractor accident in my neck of woods . This time the farmer was lucky , the other motorist not so lucky ! Goes to show that while operatering tractors on the road we need to make sure that we are seen , but still accidents happen.


Whizkid
WBKO News Center 13 Tractor Accident

Been hit by a loaded semi-tractor trailer in 1994. JD 4430 was broke into 2 pieces. Never left the seat though!

Sorry to hear such a young life was lost and a farmer injured.

I?m not going to guess what guess what caused the accident but over the years, I?ve observed that driving laws, rules of the road, courtesy to other drivers have gone out They have been replaced by third world driving procedures, the distractions of cell phones, headphones, cars that talk,bing,and ding to you, 100s of radio choices and CDs played on a$$ kicking sound system, internet surfing, GPS (both audio & video) in addition to all other traditional distractions like kids, AM radio, etc.

I'll bet that in her last glance at the road ahead she saw him but it didn't register that he was moving slowly.

I would never want to risk driving a tractor on a four lane highway, too dangerous competing with 70 MPH+ traffic.

I was driving my 1952 Fordson Major and single furrow mounted plough down a main road close to my home, I had a flashing amber beacon and a fluorescent jacket. Rare for Norfolk but the road was straight and wide for about 2 miles.

All of a sudden I was broadside to the carriageway after a heavy shove. A Ford Capri had hit the rear of the plough at around 60 mph and the landslide had cut up his front wing up to the windscreen. He got out and was really upset and apologetic, he had ruined his beautiful, highly polished white, showpiece and he admitted it was his fault. He had seen me in the distance and had completely blanked me out of his mind. I got away with a bent top link and the only casualty was his lovely car.

Like showcrop said, she seen it, i would guess, didn't realize how slow it was moving ,went back to adjusting the radio or whatever, and bang !

I got the remains of a 605c vermeer bailer in my scrap pile a drunk driver rammed,he was unhurt,car totaled as well as my bailer. The tractor apeared undamaged untill it was in the field.pto viberated,clutch acted odd.busted bell housing,and it sprung the pto and that long shaft goes to flywheel

That is stupid. No idea on law's in other states but the only slow moving vehicle of any type allowed on a 4 lane here is the ones mowing the roadside and they have sign's for miles before you get to them. No matter if it was legal or not it was still stupid!

M-Man, no idea what state you are in but that is the way it is here in Ohio, And anybody trying to take a tractor on any of them would be just plain STUPID.

I was going to post this, you beat me to it. This happened less than 5 miles from my parents farm. I have been nothing but livid since our local state representative decided upon himself that we needed a 65 mile per hour speed limit without any input from local residents!!!!

This is the second tractor accident in(less than 2 years) like this (within 5 miles of each other) where the person behind the tractor was going so fast that they broke the rear axle plum off!!!

I travel this 4 lane highway with tractor and roller. Nothing can pucker your behind like getting passed on a tractor by a semi doing 65 mph.

Stay safe out there. Nathan

Well, around here the only way to get from one part of the farm to the other part is by driving on USRt20 which varies from 4 lane divided to 2 lane. US20 was once known as the "Great Western Turnpike" a wagon trail. Over the years it was improved and widened into 4 lane in places, but it is still 2 lane where the villages are, because they couldn't tare down the whole villages. The farms were here long before Eisenhower widened the road. You can't pick up a farm and move it and many were divided by the 4 lane when it was built so farm traffic on it is a fact of life. The speed limit is however 55mph and heavily monitored and enforced.--------Loren

I know this may not be well received here, but here's a counter argument.

Roads, and specifically highways, including the dual lane divided highways were designed to efficiently move high speed car, bus and truck traffic. That traffic pays taxes in the form of registrations, and fuel taxes to maintain and support the infrastructure.

Farm vehicles(of all shapes and sizes), MAY use those roads for travel when other means of getting from place to place would prove difficult, or impossible. It is up to the operator of the farm vehicle to insure safe passage of a non-highway machine on an open high speed road. Up to and including a convoy car/truck behind with flashing amber light.

Having said that, this is no excuse for the highway vehicle(car, truck, bus, motorcycle) to strike the farm vehicle. But it IS incumbent on the farm vehicle which has no registration in most cases, pays no registration fees, and is exempt from highway fuel taxes to stay out of the way of highway traffic. When needed to transit on a muni, state, fed highway to see that all precautions against being hit by high-speed traffic be taken by the farm vehicle.

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How I handled it. About 4 years ago, I bought a road grader in central CO and had to move it to the northern part of NM. Before my trip, I mounted a rotating amber light on the cab, and a pair of flashing lights on the back(magnetic trailer base bought at Walmart for $29). I called the CO state patrol, chatted with them a bit, gave them the route, and my schedule. They said they would have a cruiser wait for me at X location for the high speed road where I needed to travel 18 miles until I was on backroads again.

I joined CO hwy 160 from a dirt road access and met the state trooper. We chatted a bit, and he followed me with his flashers on for the full 18 miles(almost an hour), plus another 4 miles south toward NM before he had to rush off to some accident.

Maybe a tough crowd for this sentiment, but really - the highways aren't meant for farm vehicles. I see plenty out here where I am, and give them every advantage. All of them are also trying best they can to not impede traffic, but I've seen some situations which really could have used a convoy car or truck behind with a flashing roof light.

Us farmers pay taxes to build these roads that our land is along these roads where we also use for our personal vehicles. Yes I have smv signs on all tractors and flashers. If people would get off their cell phones while driving would help. Tractors have been on roads since day they were invented including horses before that. PAY ATTENTION

That's never good who ever is responsible. from the looks of the vehicle, I wonder if the lady had her seat belt on? She was probably thrown fore ward. Seat belt may have saved her. Maybe she had her seat belt on. We will never know. Stan

PAY ATTENTION

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PAY ROAD USE FUEL TAX in your farm vehicle

then I'll listen to you.

I'm talking about two lane highways not four lane divided highways.

In a just world the farmer would go to jail, no further questions asked. If it not already against the law to have an ag tractor on a 4 lane in that state it darned sure should be. We have minimum speed laws around me and they are enforced. if you cannot keep up you have to get off the road.

Some are posting as if "Four Lane Hwy" equals an interstate hwy.

This is a 4 lane. 2 lane divided limited access road built in 2002. This road divided my family's farm, along with several others. THIS IS NOT AN INTERSTATE ROAD. For the most part it is the only road between Bowling green and Scottsville. I would be willing to wager there is not a day one you will not meet a tractor on this road, as well as some Mennonites travel a couple miles of it as well.

So for all of you blaming us farmers for these accidents you should know the facts before you start 'throwing stones.'

As doubleO7 said this is not an interstate, it is a semi-limited access four lane that used to be a two lane farm access rd like the on by ACGs place. Farm equipment has every legal, economic, moral, and intelligence right to use it. It is however, incumbent upon the tractor operator to meet the situation halfway by mounting two beacon lights on the top of the cab, or on poles if open station. To not do so would be imprudent.

Sad story ...... I'd like to think that those that are providing the world with food have a right to use public roads (and let's not start arguing over what category that road belongs to). And yes, it is incumbent on the tractor operator (as well as cars and trucks) to drive with due care and caution along with lights, signs, and whatever other safety items help prevent these tragedies.

One thing that should be understood though is this ..... if you think the costs of building roads and highways is covered by licence plate fees and gasoline taxes, you're having a bad dream and should wake up and apologize for using that in your argument. That amounts to pi$$ing in the ocean as far as an effect on overall costs involved.

A four lane highway is actually safer than two way highways for both the tractor and the cars. If she had been on a four lane, she probably would have just passed when she saw that it was too late to stop. I bet that there are far less tractor verses car accidents on four lane highways than two lanes. Most tractors now days have four way flashers mounted high up on the cab. From hauling wide loads in trucks, I know that four lanes are much safer. Maybe the people that want to ban tractors from the roads should go without food for a while!

(quoted from post at 08:14:29 07/28/19) Us farmers pay taxes to build these roads that our land is along these roads where we also use for our personal vehicles. Yes I have smv signs on all tractors and flashers. If people would get off their cell phones while driving would help. Tractors have been on roads since day they were invented including horses before that. PAY ATTENTION

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Not true. Most Country, state and US highways do not assess a frontage tax for property on those highways. Nor do they do special assessments when they repair that road. I have 1/4 mile of state highway that I own both sides of the road. When they repaved that several years ago it did absolutely nothing to my taxes. So the farmer is using them with vehicles (tractors, combines and self propelled implements) without paying to maintain them.

Heck just the other day my wife and I got stuck behind a guy I know on a county highway. He was out there and had been too lazy to fold his cultivator (yea he still cultivates). Anyway 8 row cultivator and he was taking up about 3/4s of the road. Narrow road with no shoulders too. Guy does stuff like that all the time. So often farmers are at least part way at fault.

Rick

we have all kinds of four lanes that have no minn. speed limit . have one crossing the river and one of our BTO takes up the hole bridge crossing all the time no big deal

(quoted from post at 06:26:05 07/28/19) That is stupid. No idea on law's in other states but the only slow moving vehicle of any type allowed on a 4 lane here is the ones mowing the roadside and they have sign's for miles before you get to them. No matter if it was legal or not it was still stupid!

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This might have been his only way of getting to a field and I am sure he Enjoyed the thrill of driving a slow tractor in fast traffic. (Not) If he would have driven in the median or in the ditch the law would have gone after him for not using the traveled portion of the road.

Would parallel frontage roads for local traffic and farm equipment be an effective way to separate slow local traffic from the high speed long distance traffic on modern four lane roads? I know, too many farmers and land owners will still object to loosing a few acres of cropland (even at fair market value) to improve public safety, including the safety of farmers, their neighbors and farm employees.

In Western Iowa, nearly 100 miles of US Highway 20 was widened to four lanes by building a completely new four lane highway a mile north of the existing two lane road, over what had been a gravel road. The new road construction did not affect highway traffic nearly as much as rebuilding the existing route. The old road was saved to serve local traffic. The small towns that were bypassed now have lower traffic volumes and less traffic noise. I think the speed limit on the new road is 65MPH, but traffic normally moves faster at between 70 and 80 MPH, almost as fast as the Interstate highways. IMHO, taking any farm equipment on that new road would be fool hardy.

(quoted from post at 12:33:34 07/28/19)
In a just world the farmer would go to jail, no further questions asked. If it not already against the law to have an ag tractor on a 4 lane in that state it darned sure should be. We have minimum speed laws around me and they are enforced. if you cannot keep up you have to get off the road.

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I don't normally spout off but in this case you don't know what the heck your talking about.

I know that area and have traveled that road, it parallels a river to the south and in some parts there is no access to fields except from that road
If you look at the map I provided Hwy 961 used to be the old 2 lane hwy, the new 4 lane road cut right thru those farms leaving the farmers no choice but the drive down that 4 lane road to access their fields, how else are they going to get to them.



It's sad anytime someones injured or killed in a accident but blaming the farmer for even being on that road is ludicrous.

Looking at the photo the guy was driving a late model cab tractor that would have had proper warning lights mounted at the top of the cab, "weather they were turned on or not I don't know", one can also clearly see the slow moving vehicle triangle mounted on the rakes frame, so he had taken proper precautions to warn others of his slow moving equipment.
Looking at the oil dry put down it appears he was in the right hand lane where he should have been, unfortunately we'll never know why she didn't move over to the left lane and pass the farmer.



It is true that farmers don't pay highway fuel tax on ag fuel, but most of them also own trucks to haul their equipment and farm products on, those trucks are charged a flat rate tax for every mile they are driven and also pay a federal highway fuel tax of $.38 pre gallon plus what ever the state charges. This amounts to thousands of dollars per year in highway use and fuel taxes paid by farmers, so if they need to drive that piece of ag equipment down a highway to access a field I think they've paid for it.

As for that farmer that won't fold up his cultivator, Call the law and complain, he's in the wrong and should be fined.

One more thing and I'm done.
A few years ago one of the trucks from the mill I worked at was delivering a load of lumber, the road they where on was small and he was about a mile from his delivery point, driver stated he was being safe traveling at 45 mph "with in the legal min limits", a guy in a car doing 65 mph "he admitted he was traveling that speed" slammed square into the rear of the truck on a straight stretch of road, he claimed he never saw the truck.
So was it the trucks fault for only doing 45 on a 55 mph road or for just being on the road period.

That appears to be the way some of you are looking at the farmer and his tractor, his fault for simply being there.

Growing up, a next door neighbor has two land locked triangles of land that were cut off by creeks. By Iowa law he could legally drive through dad's farm and another neighbor's farm to access those fields. He worked with dad so that his travels did not cause any damage to dad's fields. Later a large farm bought that neighbor's farm and installed culverts over the creeks.

Solutions to land locked fields and properties can be worked out if people are willing to try.

Interesting how many of the posters seem to know more about this crash than the investigators. Rushing to judgment, placing blame, and lecturing on safety.

The whole lot of you should be ashamed. Not a one of you knows the full circumstances of this incident. Not one of you was witness to this event. Yet, you all seem to know just what happened and what went wrong and whose fault the whole thing is.

In ANY crash like this, there are more factors than one involved. Why not just let it go by saying that it is a sad thing and then let the investigators and insurance companies sort out the rest. It just burns me up that so many claim to know so much about it without being witness to it.

jimg.allentown, well aren't you the self righteous one. I have noticed numerous times from your posts that either you read very few of posts prior to yours or your reading comprehension is not good. In this thread I count seven posters who made assumptions on what happened, including myself. There are 31 total posts, so you have condemned, by saying "the whole lot of you" , over twenty guys who just posted a general observation about farm vehicles on roads or about personal experiences. I am pleased that you are "burned up"'. I am not the least bit ashamed, because I have seen the write-ups of many accidents over my 70 years, and 37 years as a firefighter, and it is extremely rare that anything unexpected comes out of the lengthy investigations that the police do for the insurance companies, at public expense. In this particular incident. It is apparent that the car hit the tractor. It is apparent that the tractor was in the right lane, and it is apparent that the rake had an SMV emblem on the back. While it is true that there is a remote possibility that this is a case of suicide by tractor, It is a thousand times more likely that it is just simply another case of driver inattention. It doesn't take any special knowledge of this particular accident, just common sense.

Self righteous? Maybe. BUT...

I still say that those armchair investigators pointing out fault to not have all of the facts of this crash. they do not see the markings on the pavement. They do not see what may have led up to the crash. They condemn the operator for being where he was without knowledge of why he may have been there. Assumptions were made about the highway as to whether it was an expressway, limited access highway, or a 4-lane country road with intersections. Did the operator have alternate routes available to him? Before the crash, was he off to the right as far as he could be?

In the event that I were involved in a crash like that, I would not appreciate being second-guessed from folks 1,000 miles away that do not know the road or why I might have been on it. Would you?

One thing I know for sure is that you cannot trust the accuracy of newspaper or TV reporting. They either guess at or just fabricate "facts" to fir their stories. Just get it on the air or in print first. I know this from personal experience. I had a "newsworthy" incident happen years ago. When I read the story in the paper, I didn't even know it was me that they were writing about. Not only was I not interviewed, they did not get even one fact correct. So, even when I read about something like this, I wonder what really happened. I am sad for the people involved, but I refuse to participate in the armchair investigation from 1,000 miles away.

Sorry, but if they didn't see that much red, yellow, and blue, no number of flashing g lights was going to help the situation.

(quoted from post at 20:12:16 07/29/19) Sorry, but if they didn't see that much red, yellow, and blue, no number of flashing g lights was going to help the situation.

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Sorry T in NE, but even if you don't understand it, the simple fact of the matter here is that the issue is NOT whether she SAW it or not, but whether or not it registered in her thought process as a threat. We all know that we SEE all kinds of things as we drive and then we suddenly realize that we drove a couple miles and remember nothing of it. Flashing lights are no guarantee. of course not. There is little in life that is. The difference is that flashing lights will probably cause the observer to take note of a situation requiring caution, and THEN become aware that the bright colors are not just the advertising on the back of a van truck going the same speed as she is, but instead something that she is about to slam into.