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FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY: One of the most dangerous places to be these days
can be on a rural highway where farm machinery and vehicles are “mixing
it up” everyday.
David Wade, a Mercer County farmer and retired school teacher, found
out first-hand how dangerous this mixture can be.
On November 30, 2004 at around 4:30 in the afternoon, Wade drove his
60 hp Ford tractor from his father’s farm, where his equipment was
stored, to his farm just down the road.
As Wade prepared to turn left into his farm driveway he saw a truck
coming up behind him. He realized the truck was moving too fast to stop
so he grabbed onto the steering wheel and held as tight as he could.
The truck driver hit his brakes, but his speed, estimated at 70 miles
per hour, was too great to allow him to stop. He hit Wade’s tractor
in the rear, breaking its right axle and sending it across the road. Incredibly,
the tractor came to a stop in
Wade’s driveway, still upright. With the truck traveling at 70
miles per hour and the tractor going just 15 mph, it took the truck less
than five seconds to close a gap the length of a football field.
Wade said the impact was so hard that “the rollbar was the only
thing that held the tractor together. “
Wade is one of the fortunate. After weeks of therapy, he is back to
his old routine.
Others are not so lucky, and the National Safety Council believes most
of these car-tractor accidents can be avoided. Wade agrees, and advises
farmers who have to drive farm machinery on the highways “to pick
times when not a great deal of traffic is on the road.” He also
encourages them to make sure lighting and marking equipment and slow-moving
vehicle (SMV) emblems are easily seen by motorists and to always wear
a seatbelt.
The National Safety Council and Kentucky Farm Bureau are promoting September
18 – 24, as National Farm Safety and Health Week, to call attention
to risks posed to persons of all ages involved in agriculture.
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