Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, July 2, 1990 TAG: 9007020093
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CULPEPER LENGTH: Short
For the first time, their cars are competing with tractors for space on country roads - and sometimes there isn't enough room.
Farm and safety experts say the result often is accidents, even deaths.
"People that have grown up in rural areas generally are aware of the kinds of hazards that exist on these country roads and they drive more carefully," said Glen Hetzel, a safety specialist at the Department of Agricultural Engineering at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.
"As others move into these rural areas, they are not used to being as cautious as they need to be when they are out in the country," he said.
Nationwide, the number of accidents involving farm equipment and other vehicles has remained constant at about 30,000 a year since 1985, said Bob O'Brien, spokesman for the National Safety Council in Chicago.
But John Pollock, executive director of the Rural Health and Safety Council at Cornell University in New York, said the statistics often are unreliable.
Farmers say some motorists don't realize how little time it takes to close in on a slow-moving tractor and don't leave enough time to stop.
More vehicles are on the roads, and as the number of farms shrinks, the remaining farms and farm equipment get bigger.
Another problem is that use of the Slow Moving Vehicle emblem, required in most states on all farm equipment, is not controlled, so people often use them for other purposes.
by CNB