Cooperative Living July 2020 - 10

Rules of the Road
FarmLife | by Adam Culler, Virginia Farm Bureau Federation
Practice patience when traveling
behind farm equipment
tafford County, Va., corn and
soybean grower Glenn Dye lives
and farms near Fredericksburg. He
farms on multiple properties, making it
necessary to drive his equipment on
public roadways.
Dye says he tries to travel on
surrounding roads as little as possible.
But as the population around his farm
has grown, road travel has become more
dangerous.
" Drivers are turning to back roads
to avoid traffic jams on the main
highways, " Dye explains. " Many people
in the area are so far removed from the
farm that they don't understand how
Click on Rural Safety
To shine a brighter light on the occupational
hazards of working in agriculture, Virginia Farm
Bureau has launched a website dedicated to
providing its members with farm safety
information.
Located at vafb.com/safety, the Virginia Farm
Bureau Federation Safety Advisory Committee
designed the site to deliver a diverse range of
resources for rural communities.
Topics addressed include safety on the farm,
physical and mental health, accident response,
and road and equipment safety.
The site can benefit farmers as well as those
without backgrounds in agriculture. It contains
a wealth of information regarding road safety,
as well as information on how to safely
operate lawn mowers and all-terrain vehicles.
Additionally, mental and physical health
resources can be used by anyone in need
of help.
Noting that additional content will
continually be added to the website, Dana
Fisher, chairman of the VFBF Farm Safety
Advisory Committee, says the flexibility to
add information as it becomes available was
one of the great things about this project.
" We want this to be a timesaver for folks,
and we want it to be a way for people to get
this information quickly. "
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large and how slow the equipment
travels. "
The Virginia Farm Bureau
Federation Farm Safety Advisory
Committee is exploring ways to cope
with that issue and educate drivers
about what to do when they encounter
farm equipment.
Raising awareness became the
committee's priority after a collision
precipitated by illegal passing killed
Bedford County, Va., farmer Eddie
Reynolds Jr. in April 2019.
Patience is key, says Dana Fisher,
who chairs the Farm Bureau committee.
" Farm vehicles travel at a different
speed, take up a lot of space and they're
moving from farm to farm. When you
have a farm vehicle that's traveling at
a lower speed, you're going to catch
it a lot faster than you would another
vehicle. "
Virginia and Maryland laws require
that all farm tractors and self-propelled
farm machinery that typically travel
slower than 25 mph display a triangular
slow-moving vehicle emblem on the
rear of the vehicle when on a public
roadway. Many farmers also use flashing
amber lights, reflective decals and escort
vehicles to alert approaching drivers.
The emblems warn drivers to
start slowing down right away. The
distance between a car traveling at
55 mph and a tractor going 20 mph
will close quickly.
" Farm vehicles take up a lot of
space width-wise on the road, and
sometimes they have to watch out for
other things, too, " Fisher says. " As
they're trying to maneuver around,
they're going to take more than just
their lane to be able to get from
place to place. "
Farm Bureau leaders want drivers
to be aware that farming activities
in spring and fall result in more
tractors and other heavy equipment
on public roads. As more farm
equipment occupies the road,
motorists should slow down, make
room and pass safely.
" We'll try to move between 9 a.m.
and 2 p.m. when the buses and
the kids are off the road, " Dye says.
" We don't want to be in the way
impeding traffic any more than
[drivers] want us to be in the way.
If everybody could just slow down
and take a minute, everybody
can get to where they're going
safely. " ■
http://www.vafb.com/safety http://www.co-opliving.com
Cooperative Living July 2020

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