SIKESTON -- An accident involving farming machinery last week has prompted the Missouri State Highway Patrol to remind area motorists that harvest season offers special challenges for travelers on Missouri roadways.
According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol at 2:26 p.m. Wednesday, motorist Shannon D. Blagg, 30, of Benton was traveling southbound in Scott County on U.S. Highway 61, two miles south of Benton, when he attempted to pass an eastbound Case-International row crop sprayer driven by Eric L. White, 30, of Scott City on the shoulder. White was turning into a private driveway and struck Blagg's vehicle, which continued into a ditch and overturned.
"Last year, eight people were killed and 100 injured as a result of traffic crashes involving farming machinery," said Colonel Roger D. Stottlemyre, superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
"Motorists and farmers must stay alert to changing traffic patterns during the harvest season," Stottlemyre said. "If the routes you travel are near farmland, slow down and drive courteously. Vehicles and farm equipment can share the road safely."
The following are some tips for safe driving during the harvest:
Motorists
-- Stay alert for slow moving farm equipment.
-- When you come up behind a tractor or other farm machinery, please slow down and be patient. Wait to pass until you have a clear view of the road ahead and there is no oncoming traffic. Never pass on a hill or curve.
-- Collisions commonly occur when a motorist tries to pass a left-turning farm vehicle. A tractor that appears to be pulling to the right side of the road to let motorists pass, instead may be preparing to make a wide left turn. Watch the farmer's hand and light signals carefully.
Farmer
-- Make sure any farm equipment being driven on Missouri roadways is properly marked with lights and a "slow-moving vehicle" emblem.
-- Drive as far to the right as possible.
-- If traffic accumulates behind you on a road on which it is difficult to make a safe pass, you should pull off onto the side of the road in a level area, so that the vehicles can pass.
-- If possible, never travel on roadways at dawn or dusk when it is more difficult for drivers of other vehicles to see.
-- Like other motor vehicles, most modern farm tractors have seat belts. Always use a seat belt when operating a tractor equipped with a roll-over protection structure.
-- All-terrain vehicles often are used for agricultural purposes. ATVs being used for farming can only travel on highways during daylight hours and must be equipped with lights, a bicycle flag and SMV emblem. The law requires anyone under the age of 18 to wear a safety helmet when operating an ATV; the Patrol, however, recommends all operators wear a safety helmet.
In General
-- Never allow children to ride as an extra passenger on lawn mowers, tractors, other farm equipment or all-terrain vehicles. It is very easy for them to be flung from the vehicle in the event of a sudden stop or a crash.
-- Children were not meant to be hauled in the open bed of pick-up trucks.
-- It is now a violation of Missouri law for a person under age 18 to ride in the unenclosed bed of a truck.