In 2017, there were 42 crashes, in Oregon, involving farm equipment. There were 32 non-fatal injuries and one death, according to the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT). Last year, the Oregon legislature passed the Rural Oregon Achieving Driving Safety (aka ROADS) Act to establish a pilot program for creating safety corridors on county roads. Summer is a busy time for Oregon farmers, and you can expect to see farm equipment on rural roadways. Learn how to share the road safely. If you have been injured in a motor vehicle accident involving farm equipment, the Law Office of J. Clay McCaslin can help.
Wide Turns
It’s true that far equipment operators will sometimes pull over or partially pull over to let drivers pass their large, slow-moving vehicles more easily. But just because you see farm equipment move to the right, don’t assume they are making room for you. Watch for hand signals and other signals that can alert you to what they’re really up to.
Farm equipment often has to make wide left-hand turns, meaning they pull first to the right before turning left. Due to the nature of the equipment, operators may not be able to see you and may not know you are there at all. That is one of many reasons to give them plenty of room and move slowly around this large machinery.
Wide Equipment
Some farm equipment is wider than a lane of traffic or has implements that take up extra space. Drivers are asked to yield to wide farm equipment. If you see it coming in the oncoming lane, and there is not room for both of you, stop and pull over so the farm equipment can pass by safely.
When passing wide farm equipment going in the same direction as you are, make sure that you have plenty of space to pass. You may have to wait it out.
If you or someone you love has been injured in a motor vehicle accident involving farm equipment, as the occupant of a passenger vehicle or as a farm equipment operator, call the Law Office of J. Clay McCaslin at 503-239-1910 or contact us online right away to schedule your free consultation.