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| The combination of tractors and other slow-moving vehicles with faster-moving cars and trucks on roads and highways can have tragic consequences. A Purdue educational DVD, “We All Share the Road,” encourages safety and awareness. |
Farmers and motorists both share the same roads, both have a destination and both have a job to get done. However, the combination of farmers and motorists driving to their destinations at the same time can set them on a collision course for disaster.
Purdue Extension teamed up with Indiana Farm Bureau, the Indiana Farm Bureau Women’s Group and the Indiana State Police to produce “We All Share the Road,” an educational DVD to increase awareness of slow-moving vehicles on rural roads and highways.
“Be patient, and slow down,” says Purdue Extension safety specialist Bill Field. “Speed is the answer for everything these days, and that creates a problem when we start mixing our fast-paced routines with travel on rural roadways.” Both sides share responsibility for safety, Field says.
“It’s all about respect and safety,” says Tom Keithley, a Lake County, Ind., farmer who survived a tractor-semitrailer collision. “Farmers need to respect other motorists and let them pass when it is safe to do so, but motorists need to respect farmers and their machinery by slowing down and being patient.”
Slow-moving vehicles in Indiana range from tractors to manure spreaders and from tomato harvesters to combines. These machines often travel less than 25 miles per hour.
“We All Share the Road” is available from the Purdue Extension Education Store www.ces.purdue.edu/new/.
Photo credit: Tom Campbell
Contributing writers: Julie Douglas, Beth Forbes, Becki Francis, Steve Leer, Susan Steeves
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