During harvest season, drivers in Pennsylvania will be sharing the road with heavy farming machines. Ideally, passenger vehicles will slow down and take other precautions to minimize the risk of an accident. In many cases, tractors and other farming vehicles have top speeds of 20 miles per hour and are difficult to maneuver because of their large size.
How to avoid accidents with large farm machines
Any farm machine that is being driven on the road will have lights attached to it. Therefore, you should be able to see it from far enough away that you can slow down in a timely manner. If you have to travel for work or school overnight or during the early morning hours, you are encouraged to give yourself more time to reach your destination. Doing so increases the odds that you can get to your destination on time without having to put anyone’s health or safety in danger.
It is also a good idea to slow down when driving up a hill or going around a corner. This is because it can be difficult to see what is over that hill or around the corner. Even if you can see what’s ahead of you, it can be tricky to judge how far away an object may be.
Passenger vehicles will suffer the majority of the damage
The tractor or other piece of farm equipment that you encounter on the road will likely weigh between 40,000 and 60,000 pounds. A passenger vehicle typically weighs 2,000 to 6,000 pounds, which means that it will experience significant damage in a collision with a farm machine.
If you are involved in an auto accident involving large machines or any other type of vehicle, you may want to talk to a personal injury attorney. You could be entitled to compensation for medical bills and other damages related to broken bones, lacerations or other injuries that you incurred in the crash’s aftermath. In some cases, you may be entitled to compensation even if you are partially liable for the crash.