Drivers in Pennsylvania are well aware they often need to share rural roadways with large and slow-moving farm equipment, especially during harvest seasons, when farmers move equipment from field to field.

According to a report (March 2011) on public road crashes involving farm equipment, ATVs and horses and buggies by Penn State Safety Specialist Dennis J. Murphy and Data Analyst Cathy Kassa, in 2008 and 2009, there were 800 crashes in the commonwealth involving farm equipment, an ATV or horse and buggy.

Of the total, 21 percent involved farm equipment and 16 percent involved a horse and buggy.

To make the public aware of the dangers and the need to drive safely around equipment such as tractors, disc harrows and farm wagons, Penn State Cooperative Extension, Lehigh County Farm Bureau and Pa. State Police joined together for a recent press conference at Eckroth Equipment Co., Kernsville Road, Orefield.

Penn State Cooperative Extension Program Assistant Monica Ganser, of Whitehall, introduced the guest speakers and provided information from the Extension on Rural Road Safety Week, which this year was April 12-18.

First to address the gathering was Heidel Hollow Farm Co-owner Sonia Fink, District 2 representative of Pa. Farm Bureau Board of Directors.

Fink urged drivers to slow down when nearing a farm vehicle traveling along a road.

"Farmers are aware they are slowing down drivers," she said. "Farmers avoid being on roads during rush hour as much as possible.

"I urge drivers to be cautious, slow down and to be patient."

Lehigh County Farm Bureau President William Boyd told those gathered he has been farming for 50 years.

He discussed the orange safety triangles to be used when a farm vehicle is traveling under 25 mph.

Boyd also discussed the width of some of the farm equipment, noting some of the equipment can actually be folded, so as not to be as wide in the lanes of the roads.

"I've been living with this all my life," Boyd said. "There is just more traffic."

Pa. State Police Community Service Officer Trooper Marc Allen told the farmers at the presentation the state police want them to be safe before they even travel out onto the roadways.

"Crashes can be prevented by doing pre-checks of equipment," Allen said. "We want all crashes to go down."

Gavin Grim of Eckroth addressed the advance technology of today's farm equipment.

"As technology gets more advanced, tractors get more sophisticated," Grim said, adding equipment is becoming heavier and bigger.

They can handle hills better, he said, but farmers also need a larger area in which to stop.

Grim also said there are more lights, such as warning lights and strobes, on newer tractors than on older models, to make them more visible to drivers.

Some of the safe driving tips offered in the brochure from the Pa. Farm Bureau include:

·Recognize the Slow Moving Vehicle emblem;

·Be patient;

·Yield to wide vehicles;

·Before attempting to pass, beep the horn so the farmer knows you are there; and

·Pass with caution. Do not assume a farm vehicle that pulls to the right side of the road is going to turn right or is letting you pass.

Due to the size of some farm implements, the farmer must execute wide lefthand turns.

If you are unsure, check the operator's hand signals and check the left side of the road for gates, driveways or any place a farm vehicle might turn.