Self-propelled Equipment
Tom Bean
Leader, Safety
Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering
Roadway hazards
A 48-year-old father of three was driving a tractor pulling a hay baler north on Ohio 716 when a car hit the tractor as it was trying to make a left turn. The driver of the northbound automobile was attempting to pass the tractor when the accident occurred. The automobile driver was treated and released from the community hospital after the accident. The driver of the tractor was pronounced dead at the scene by the county coroner.
There were over 2,500 farm-related highway accidents in which 842 persons were injured and 33 killed in the last five years according to the Ohio Department of Highway Safety.
Reducing the risks
What are the chances that you will be involved in a farm machinery accident on a public road? These factors increase the odds:
There may be little you can do to change these factors, but others are directly under your control. For example, lack of visibility is a major cause of many accidents. You can make a big difference by making sure your equipment has a clearly visible slow-moving vehicle emblem, proper lighting, and newly enhanced reflective material.
An early warning
It sounds like a word problem straight out of a school math book: If a car is traveling 55 mph and a tractor is traveling 15 mph, how long does it take for the car to make up the 400-foot distance between them?
The answer is 7 seconds-not a lot of time for the driver of the car to slow down, unless there is sufficient warning. The slow-moving vehicle (SMV) emblem, a fluorescent orange triangle with "retroreflective" borders, does just that. It warns approaching vehicles to slow down.
The SMV emblem is required by the Ohio Revised Code when moving "implements of husbandry" and farm machinery on public roadways. Implements of husbandry are vehicles designed and adapted exclusively for agricultural, horticultural, or livestock-raising operations. Additionally, SMV emblems are required on other specific vehicles, including horse-drawn vehicles.
To be effective, it is critical that SMV emblems be clean and visible. If wagons or towed implements obscure the SMV emblem on the tractor, the rearmost wagon or implement needs to have an SMV emblem in place. Also, a faded SMV emblem may no longer attract the attention of an oncoming motorist and should be replaced.
Tractors and self-propelled equipment
The Ohio Revised Code requires tractors and other self-propelled equipment to display the following lighting 30 minutes before sunset to 30 minutes after sunrise.
Towed equipment
The Ohio Revised Code requires towed equipment to display the following lighting. Once again, the lighting is required 30 minutes before sunset to 30 minutes after sunrise.
FARM kits
To increase the odds that you will be seen on roadways, add reflective material to your farm equipment in front, back, and on the sides. Reflective material is not required by state law, but recent research has shown that it dramatically improves visibility.
The task of adding reflective material has been made easier by an Ohio program known as FARM (Fewer Accidents with Reflective Materials). Since late fall of 1997, the FARM program has offered a complete kit that includes 14 pieces of the highest quality safety material currently available, including a new improved SMV emblem to replace one that may be faded.
To mark the edges and sides of your equipment, the kit includes several types of colors of 2" by 9" reflective strips. Six yellow and two red "retroreflective" strips enhance the visibility of your equipment at night. For daytime visibility, the kit contains two red-orange fluorescent strips.
Reflective material can be especially useful to mark the sides of your equipment. Without side markings on equipment, you increase the risks in making a left turn or crossing a highway. The illustrations in this fact sheet show the recommended positions for reflective materials.
Kits containing materials and instructions to mark one implement may be available from your local Farm Bureau or equipment dealer.
The illustrations in this fact sheet depict recommended lighting and reflective materials on farm equipment. But keep in mind that these recommendations exceed requirements by the Ohio Revised Code.
The Code requires no flashing amber lights, but two are recommended. Also, as mentioned earlier, the Code does not require additional fluorescent and reflective material, but it is strongly recommended because reflective material can play a major role in preventing serious accidents.
Appreciation is extended to the Department of Agricultural Engineering and the Information and Technology Services at the University of Illinois for their contribution in the development of this fact sheet.
Ohio Sponsors
All educational programs conducted by Ohio State University Extension are available to clientele on a nondiscriminatory basis without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, gender, age, disability or Vietnam-era veteran status.
Keith L. Smith, Associate Vice President for Ag. Adm. and Director, OSU Extension.
TDD No. 800-589-8292 (Ohio only) or 614-292-1868