Don’t let impatience turn you into a traffic safety statistic

We have all been there.

You are on your way home or to someplace you need or want to be, and there ahead of you is a tractor pulling a piece of equipment. The type of equipment varies depending on season from a wide cultivator, to a wagon piled high with hay, or manure spreader heading out to a field.

Regardless, as a driver you are forced to slow from the 55 mph (or more likely higher speed) you were traveling at to a more pedestrian rate that might top out at 25 to 30 mph, if not far slower.

Your frustration builds as you imagine yourself flying down the rural highways and knowing that you might end up late to where it is you are going because of the delay. Your impatience eventually gets the better of you and you dart out to try to pass the big, slow-moving tractor and equipment with a hope and prayer that no one is coming.

Many times, you might get lucky. According to the National Safety Council, about 15,000 times a year people aren’t so lucky and the result is a crash between farm vehicles and other vehicles on the roads. Crashes, like the one that took place on CTH E at the intersection with Blacken Dr. on Aug. 12. In the language of law enforcement personnel, the motor vehicle driver “looked but did not see” the tractor turning in front of him resulting in a suspected injury and a car needing to be towed from the scene.

Such an incident could easily have had more tragic consequences. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) reports that there are on average 2.1 fatalities for every 100 crashes involving farm vehicles. This does not include injuries or the damage to equipment and property that can result from these crashes. This is especially true in rural areas such as in Wisconsin where tractors may be smaller and the tractor driver is exposed and at greater risk of injury or death.

According to the National Safety Council, incidents involving passenger vehicles and farm equipment happen most frequently from May to October, from the start of spring planting through the fall harvest.

As Wisconsin’s harvest season gets underway, Wisconsin motorists must use extra care and not allow impatience to get the better of them. All drivers need to be alert, particularly during dawn and dusk or other times when there is lower visibility. While state laws require larger equipment being towed to be flagged and there to be lights, this is not always the case often leading to serious situations.

With summer rapidly shifting into autumn, the hours of daylight are steadily decreasing making the roads more dangerous for all drivers.

It is the responsibility of all those on public roads to be paying attention and taking the time needed for safe choices. Don’t let impatience turn you into a traffic safety statistic.