Borderline safety
I'm guessing he probably never knew what hit him, until, as they say, it was too late. He lived for a few hours after the accident. I'm sure the truck that plowed into him also never saw it coming. Accidents happen.During this season of planting and new creation, it's sad to pause and remember an old farmer who met the end of his earthly life in a violent truck-tractor accident in our neighborhood. Personally, if I didn't see him on his tractor, I'm not sure I'd know him. However, he and my brother liked to trade neighborhood gossip, and he was by all accounts, a colorful character in the area.
Living in the country, along the busy highways and even the back roads, it's inevitable that drivers will encounter farm machinery on the roads, especially from March to November. Planting and harvesting season means tractors are moving from field to field, and combines lumber down the road, usually taking up a lane and a half. Woe to the driver heading north when that big harvester is chugging south, or the car that tries to pass a huge corn planter and gravity wagons, precariously swinging behind the truck or tractor pulling them.
Growing up on a farm, I learned two things rather early: you can never be too careful around farm equipment and other people will ignore and hate you, doing everything they can to get around you. I can drive two of my father's most ancient tractors, but after I drove one into the side of a building, my dad pretty much forbade me from touching it again, and I was only too willing to comply.
Farmers drive their tractors longer than we drive our cars and trucks, and some of those on the road can be as old as my dad's. These days, my dad and brother have bigger tractors, with cabs and flashers and mirrors, but the line of sight is still obscured, especially if the machine is pulling multiple gravity, silage or hay wagons, or a tank spreader. Some tractors on the road can now travel faster but are very expensive and not many of the small farmers have them. Tractors aren't cheap; a quick search found an average-sized tractor from the leading manufacturer priced at $53,000, base price, with no extra features. Most farmers are using machinery that ranges in age from new to 50-plus years in age. Bigger machinery like a combine can run six figures, but most farmers in the area seem to have older equipment; only the "big boys" have the latest gear.
Sharing the road has to be done mutually in order to make everyone's life precious and honored. Farmers also must provide some space. A former Extension agent used to say that if farmers noticed a line of five or more cars behind them, they should look for the safest place to pull over and let the parade behind them pass. Some farmers do and others don't. Last year, I got behind a huge tractor, bouncing all over the road, pulling an enormous liquid manure tank that swayed from side to side, dancing into the opposite lane. From the angle of his mirrors, I knew he could see the growing line behind him, and I held my breath as we traveled from Mt. Eaton through Mt. Hope, and southward. He never once looked behind him, or pulled over. The driver had ample opportunities to safely move that behemoth off the road, but he chose not to. In the meantime, daredevils whipped around him on blind curves, on the crests of hills, and any possible (though illegal) passing place. Finally, south of Benton, in a legal passing zone, I was able to make my move. My own anger was beginning to affect my judgement, and by the actions of other drivers, I know they were making irrational decisions, simply because the tractor driver refused to take 60 seconds and yield to that line of cars.
I guess as drivers, we have to assume the driver of that big tractor, spreader or combine can't see us, or can't safely maneuver off the road to let us around him or her. There is no driving test to drive farm machinery. It doesn't have to pass inspections for lighting or mirrors or safety features such as roll bars or seat belts. Adolescents and ancients alike can drive those monsters, and chances are, if a 13-year-old is driving down the country road with a load of hay swaying behind him, he's not cognizant of you or anyone else, even though he's been admonished to watch for you by his parents (hopefully). My father frets every time my niece and nephew, both in their late teens, hop on the skid steer or tractor to make a quick trip down the road to a field or farm. Traffic on our roads has increased, and with the arrival of tourism season, many people have no idea how to react to those machines. In many instances, neither do the tractor drivers, especially if they are young.
Driving home last night, I noticed the dirt from the old farmer's grave is beginning to settle down a bit. Next to the small graveyard, in a large field, a kinsman of his was busy working up the soil for planting. The cycle of life and growth coexists next to the resting place of those who gave their lives for the sake of providing food for our kitchen. When we drive to work to earn the money that pays for the products these farmers make, or travel to the store for supplies, the least we can do is watch out for the guardians of our dinner tables.