Alberta (Rural Roots Canada) – Canadian Road Safety Week is underway, and throughout rural Alberta, drivers are being urged to stay alert for farm machinery when travelling along the province’s roads.
“Those are large pieces of equipment on the highway, and being aware of them and driving safely around them is critical,” says Jody Wacowich, executive director of AgSafe Alberta. “Right now, all of our farmers are out there moving seeders and other big equipment, trying to get the job done in between rainstorms and whatever else happens.”
Wacowich says patience goes a long way when you’re stuck behind slow-moving machinery. “Yeah, they’re moving slow, but they’re not going to be on the road for that long. Just be patient with them and let them get to where they’re going, especially if the conditions aren’t allowing you to pass or get around them very easily. Take a breath, give it a minute or two.”
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Farmers have also raised concerns about impatient and distracted drivers on the rural roads.
“Farmers are seeing people driving distracted,” says Wacowich. “When they say it’s only a few seconds and you’ve covered the distance of a football field, that’s pretty accurate. If you’re not paying attention and you come up on one of those big pieces of farm equipment, it just causes trouble for everybody.”
Wacowich notes many accidents AgSafe Alberta hears about are rear-endings of large farm machinery, which often wrecks the passenger vehicle more than the farm equipment.
Whether it’s rear-end collisions, distracted driving, impaired driving, or fatigue, it can turn a routine drive into a tragedy. Take the extra time, slow down, and share the road.
