Combines + cars = risk
Sep. 26—Farming equipment and other traffic don't mix well, but they're bound to encounter one another on the roads this time of year.
Disaster has struck when drivers didn't pay attention. And those who farm ground near the Eli Lilly and Co. pharmaceutical complex site face extra pressure this year.
New situation
Some roads crucial to farmers have been closed surrounding the 600 acres where the Eli Lilly and Co. pharmaceutical complex is under construction. And heavy trucks and equipment delivering gravel, concrete and earthmovers to the site will share the available roads with the farm equipment this year.
Witt Road through the Lilly land is closed permanently, cutting off the safest north/south artery for farmers who want to avoid Ind. 39. The Indiana Economic Development Corp. promised to build a Witt Road bypass east of the CSX Railroad tracks on Lilly's eastern border but were unable to do so this year.
That means farmers are likely to move equipment on Ind. 39 and Ind. 47.
In a preemptive safety move, Boone County Farm Bureau and Boone County Purdue Extension representatives shared a safety presentation called We all Share the Road with about 170 construction workers at the Lilly site Wednesday.
Fluor, the contractor building Lilly, will share the content with trucking companies that make regular deliveries to the site and for new hires, Fluor Communications Manager Jeff Wagner said.
And Fluor will invite both agencies to return ahead of spring planting season.
"This kind of support in safety education really reinforces ore view of 'Safety Together,'" Wagner said.
Don Lamb, a Boone County farmer and director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, said, "The fall harvest season is certainly an exciting and busy time for farmers and motorists. By working together to practice alert driving, we can all make it home safely to our families each night."
Misunderstandings
Farmers are in a hurry to get their corn and beans out of the fields before rain, snow and other challenges decrease their yield.
Some farm equipment travels at only about 25 miles per hour, which can surprise other motorists. An average county road is about 20 feet wide, while farm equipment can be 16 feet wide or wider, leaving little room for farmers to avoid mailboxes and fences on one side of the road and let other motorists pass on the opposite side.
Motorists can easily become aggravated at the pace or misunderstand the farmer's intent and how his equipment works.
It may appear as if a large slow tractor is pulling over on the right when the farmer is actually swinging right before making a left turn, for instance. The sheer size of some equipment requires the operator to pull right before turning.
An impatient motorist who tried to pass the equipment on the left without understanding how tractors turn may get surprised, according to the ISDA.
Tractors with grain wagons and semi-trucks and trailers may also be parked along rural roads, rather than driving into fields, especially in wet conditions. And other motorists should use caution when passing them, according to the ISDA.
Time is money for Indiana's 94,000 farmers and commuters, but being patient may pay better dividends than becoming a crash statistic.
Consequences
Three vehicles were involved in crashes with farm equipment in 2020 in Indiana, and two deaths resulted, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Of the 36 farm-related fatalities in Indiana in 2017, six involved farm equipment, plus a truck, motorcycle or other motor vehicle, and another farm implement was struck by a passing vehicle, according to information compiled by Purdue University.
Thorntown farmer Joe Garst, 66, died in May 2018 after a box truck slammed into the back of his open-cab tractor, according to a crash report. Garst, a father of five, was driving an Allis Chalmers tractor southbound on U.S. 52 near County Road 700 North when he was struck from behind by a box truck driven by Jamar Odom of Indianapolis, police reported.
Garst's widow, Wanda Garst, still farms land in the area near the Lilly project.
