IARN — With harvest kicking into gear, the Iowa State Patrol is advising the traveling public to be aware of farm machinery along the state’s roadways.
Farmers are actively moving equipment in and out of fields over the next few months and will be along highways and county roadways. Trooper Ryan DeVault is public information officer for the Iowa State Patrol’s Council Bluffs office. He’s reminding motorists in Iowa to use caution while farmers are hard at work harvesting fields.
“Harvest becomes a busy time all hours of the day for the motoring public that is out there,” DeVault said. “The main thing we want to do is get people where they are going safely and during the harvest season with the machinery that is out on the roadway. The speed at which they are traveling as well as the size of the equipment are probably the two number one factors that we see involving crashes with agricultural equipment.”
“If there is a line of cars stacked up behind the farmer, I always think it’s nice where they pull over at the next gravel road – or wherever it’s safe for them to pull over and come to a stop or reduce that speed to a crawl – and let some of that traffic by them to ease the flow along those roadways. That’s always recommended.”
DeVault adds the farm equipment itself needs to have lights that are in working order.
“Make sure all lighting and signage is working and set up properly,” DeVault said. “If they are traveling below a speed of 35 miles per hour, they are required to have the slow-moving vehicle reflective triangle.”
With farmers logging marathon hours in harvesting crops the next few months, it’s also recommended that they get plenty of sleep.
Story courtesy of the Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network.
Image source Wikimedia Commons
