During the farming seasons, farm equipment is sure to be seen on the highways and blacktop roads in our rural communities. As I was pondering this blog, I was driving to the Sparta Buchheit when I happened upon a sign. Perfect timing! Start Seeing Farmers!
My husband and I are on opposite sides of the farm tractors on the highway dilemma. As a former “city slicker” he has little patience when a huge combine is driving at its top speed of 25 miles per hour on a stretch of highway with no passing zones. He rants about how if there are more than ten cars behind the tractor, they are supposed to pull over to let the masses pass. I mentioned this unspoken rule to a farmer’s wife, asking her opinion. She was quick to tell me that they tried that once only to find the other drivers wouldn’t let her husband back on the highway! Now they put their heads down and just drive. I don’t blame them.
I am not on either side as much as I am on the side of common sense and safety. Our farmers finally got into the fields following record-breaking weather. Farmers usually have almost all of the fields planted by May, but this year, just when they got into the fields, it rained again. That means that when they hit the fields, they ran day and night.
White-collar workers may never have experienced the condition of being “bone tired.” It is when you have a deadline or just a small window of time to complete a job, and you work 18 to 20-hour days until it is finished. That’s where many of our hard-working farmers are headed with this late planting and then right into wheat harvest season. When you are bone-tired you are more prone to become crabby, short-tempered, and preoccupied. It makes sense for motorists to keep a close watch while driving in rural areas.
Yes, this good old boy is taking up the entire road! I chose to give him some room and enjoy the drive into the country. I also will pull over (into a driveway when possible) when loaded silage or grain wagon is approaching so they know where I am, and so that load stays in the bin.
After some research, I discovered that one of the major causes of fatal tractor/vehicle accidents was a simple left-hand turn. The farmer is heading to the barn and is turning into his driveway when a motorist thinks the tractor is finally slowing down, so they can pass and slams into the tractor as he turns and crosses the road.
The other cause of fatality is the massiveness of the new combines and tractors. With the proper Rollover Protective Structure (ROPS) and a safety belt with which the latest tractors and combines are equipped with, there is no way a speeding motorist can compete against that amount of steel. The combine might split in two, but the driver of the vehicle may be fatally injured.
What can we do to help our farmers? Be patient! Drive offensively and don’t pass unless you have time to move safely around the farmer.
I implore you to watch out and start seeing farmers! They are facing one of the biggest challenges of their farming careers with the present weather condition, so let’s do our part to be good neighbors and drive carefully.
Praying for dry weather! Be blessed! Ann May
