NC Commissioner Troxler: Keep an Eye Out for Farm Equipment on the Road
Drivers, particularly in rural areas, are urged to be watchful and exercise patience for farm equipment on the road.
- I saw an article recently about a farm accident in Mississippi and it reminded me that we cannot talk about safety often enough when it comes to farming operations.
- We know that spring is a busy time for farmers, especially as they ready fields for planting and begin setting plants or sowing seeds.
- It is also a time when drivers are more likely to come across farm equipment on the road as farmers and their employees go about their work.
- That is always a cause for concern because cars and tractors don’t travel at the same rate of speed. I want to urge drivers to be patient if they encounter farm equipment on the road.
- It may delay you a few minutes in your trip, but it is better to be safe than sorry when considering whether to pass farm equipment or not.
- Farming is a dangerous job and statistics back that up.
- According to the CDC, workers in the agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting industry experienced one of the highest fatal injury rates in 2021 at 20 deaths per 100,000 full-time workers, compared to a rate of 3.6 deaths per 100,000 workers for all U.S. industries.
- And the leading cause of death were transportation accidents, which include tractor overturns and roadway crashes.
- I urge drivers to be especially mindful of farmers and farm equipment on the road as they head out to their fields to work. Use patience and don’t try to pass in areas where you cannot see what is coming. Doing so, puts yourself and others at risk.
- As more and more people have returned to in-office work, traffic has increasingly picked up and I would think it might even be back up to pre-pandemic levels.
- I know it is busy when I go to Raleigh from Browns Summit and on roads around home. There are a lot more drivers, with, it seems, a lot less patience.
- Farmers and their workers are doing important work to feed us, and they are only on the road because they have to be.
- To our farmers, please be safe out there as you plant, tend and harvest this year’s crops.
