During Agricultural Safety Awareness Week (March 4-10), the Emery County Farm Bureau reminds drivers to slow down and be aware of farmers driving tractors and other farm equipment on local roads. With Utah’s relatively mild winter, farmers and ranchers may be on the road with equipment sooner than you may think.
Triangular Slow Moving Vehicle (SMV) emblems can help drivers identify tractors and other large vehicles that travel 25 mph or less. Additional road safety tips are below.
- At 55 miles per hour, it will take only five seconds to close a gap the length of a football field between you and a tractor going five miles per hour.
- Watch for hand signals that a tractor driver may use to signal turning or stopping.
- Do not pull out in front of farm equipment. It cannot stop or slow down as easily as a car, especially if pulling other equipment.
- If an oversized farm vehicle is coming your way from the opposite direction, make sure you can pass it safely. If not, pull over and wait for it to pass.
- Remember that if you must slow down to 20 mph behind a tractor for two miles, you will only lose six minutes.
Farm Bureau also reminds farmers and ranchers to make safety a priority – on the roads and on the farm.
Together, farmers and non-farming members of the public can make our roads – and the business of farming – safer.
Sincerely,
Dusty Huntington
President, Emery County Farm Bureau