What can you do to prevent tractor accidents?

OKTIBBEHA COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – If you live in a rural area, it’s pretty common to see a tractor on a county road or even a highway.

But these pieces of heavy machinery sometimes find themselves at odds with other vehicles.

“This time of year especially you know with the farmers trying to get the crops out and, and even highway department clipping the roadways and all that normally every year about this time we hear about a car on a tractor accident somewhere in the state of Mississippi,” said Sheriff Steve Gladney.

Those accidents are typically a car rear-ending a tractor.

Oktibbeha County Fire Coordinator Kirk Rosenhan said distracted driving is sometimes the cause.

“You got to be vigilant and tuning the radio, and looking at your cell phone or even talking to an occupant can be a real problem. When the difference in speed and the reaction time is not going to completely solve the problem,” said Rosenhan.

High speeds can also play a role.

“Even at 60 miles an hour, you’re traveling at eighty-eight feet a second. And it takes a couple of seconds for someone to really realize that they’ve got a problem and start to do something about it much less actually the brakes and slow down,” said Rosenhan.

Tractor drivers can also do their part to prevent accidents.

“Well, make sure that their lights are working and make sure you know you see a lot of them with the big flashing lights on the back of em, and that gets everybody’s attention to. Watch for a hand signal, you know tractors ready to turn off the road onto a field maybe they’ll give a hand signal so you gotta be, you know, picking up on that too and even stopping,” said Gladney.

Car versus tractor accidents can happen at any time, but Rosenhan said they typically occur during the day.