It’s September 1st and as the days get shorter, Iowa’s farmers will soon be headed into the fields and harvest time can be a particularly dangerous time on the state’s rural roads.
State Trooper Paul Gardner, headquartered in Fort Dodge, urges Iowa motorists to stay alert.
“Farmers are going to be operating heavy machinery on the road, so we want to remind those driving on rural highways to watch for slow moving vehicles, and the importance of keeping their eyes on the road and not on a phone, keeping distractions at a minimum, keeping their speeds down,” Gardner says. “These farm machines, like tractors, combines, are likely going to be traveling much slower than the posted speed limit.”
Gardner urges drivers to use extreme caution when they’re trying to pass a tractor.
“One out of five collisions involving farm machinery on the roadways are when a farmer is making a left turn,” Gardner says. “It’s illegal to pass it at intersections, in no-passing zones, even though it might be just farm machinery that’s operating at a very slow speed. We need to make sure that visibility is good and we’re passing where it is legal to pass.”
He says farmers also need to be sure their vehicles are displaying those reflective orange triangles, designating they’re a slow-moving vehicle, and if they’re on the road at night, use the four-way flashers.
Gardner says motorists also need to use caution at rural intersections as the height of corn stalks could block a driver’s vision.
(By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City)