Bicyclists and motorists are not the only ones you should be extra cautious of on the road. Slow moving tractors and farm equipment can create hazards as well.
Automobiles and tractors often share the rural two-lane highways across Idaho. With close to 13,000 miles of two-lane roadways combined with, “becoming more an urban population with subdivisions all around us, so traffic has increased and a lot of people aren’t familiar with agriculture equipment and what it takes to move them down the road.”
In south Ada County near Kuna, farmer Neil Durrant deals with scary commutes almost everyday.
“When they get stuck behind a tractor going 20 miles an hour, they think it’s going to slow and they take every opportunity they have to try to get around you, even though many times it’s not safe,” he said. “Statistics, that’s what they show a lot of farmer’s equipment get hit from behind because people aren’t realizing they are going 20 miles an hour in a 55 mile an hour zone, and they come up on it a lot faster than what they think.”
Motoring around tractors is also a bad time to mess with you phone, which is illegal in many states.
“You see that driving down the road, people are on their phones, have it up to their face looking at it,” Durrant said. “It is illegal in Idaho to text and drive, but you still see people with their phones up, not paying attention to what’s going on.”
Durrant’s operation has added flashing lights on equipment to be more visible on the roadways.
Teaching kids about tractor safety and preparing them for a career in ag.
Experts say that now is a good time to discuss farm safety with children.
Raising awareness on the importance of grain bin safety.