By Alice McFarlane

Be alert – Be patient on highways during harvest

Aug 19, 2020 | 3:59 PM

With harvest just nicely getting started it is the time of year when we’ll be seeing a lot of very large farm equipment on highways.

As producers are working hard to bring in the 2020 crop motorists and farm equipment operators have a responsibility to keep highways safe for everyone.

SGI’s Tyler McMurchy said this is an agricultural province and we want to make sure the people who work hard to keep food on our tables are able to do so and get to where their going safely.

He said farm equipment is very slow-moving and if you find yourself behind a big piece of machinery – be patient, and pass when it is safe to do so. Farmers are usually only transporting their machinery from one field to another, so they won’t be on the road for long.

“Farm equipment can be wider or longer than sometimes expected,” McMurchy told farmnewsNOW. “Make sure to give yourself plenty of room to pass and pull back into the lane safely.

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McMurchy said the farmer may not be able to signal their intent to turn or slow down so motorist should be watching for sudden movements.

“If that farmer is going to turn left into a field on the opposite side of the road that’s not when you want to be passing. Hold off on passing if that is what you suspect where they are going.”

McMurchy said motorists should give farmers plenty of space.

“The operator of the farm equipment has several blind spots and may not be able to see you if you’re following too closely behind or cut in front of them. When everyone can see each other on the road, we’re all safer,” he said.

McMurchy said farmers also need to take steps to ensure the safety of other drivers. He said equipment that travels slower than 40 km/h, must be equipped with a slow-moving-vehicle sign. Machinery that extends more than 1.2 metres should be equipped with reflective devices.

Collisions involving farm equipment are rare but this is the time of year it’s most likely to happen.

“In 2019 there 23 collisions involving farm equipment. It resulted in eight injuries and two fatalities. That’s a high number of casualties for the number of collisions,” he said. “We really want to see that number come down to zero.”

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @AliceMcF