Combines combine and road rage

[twin_spinner]

Here in OZ the law states that if someone tried to assult you in the cab of your harvester you can only defend yourself with the same amount of force as your asalaint users on you and you wait for them to assault you first before you respond. I THINK NOT!!!! The civil libertarians are out of control and make laws to protect the baddies .The criminals in jail over here live in better conditions than half of the law abiding citizens. better go starting to get political.

 

[Rig]

Actually the motorists that I lose patience with the most are the ones that when they see you coming a half mile away pull way over and nearly stop. Then you are put in the situation of continuing like you were and probably be considered a road hog or pull over completely and wait for ever for that motorist to drive past you at 10mph. I will pull over completely but not before it is time to do it. I am a hazard and the quicker I get off the road the better and these over cautious drivers extend my road time and bunch up the traffic.

 

[pdqbach55]

This is not a surprise to me. Two years ago, I was driving a tractor and drills down a highway that had a very nice shoulder to drive on. I was over far enough that I was not less than 3 feet from the centerline. There was no oncoming traffic when a livestock semi pulled around to pass. As he came beside me, he swerved into my lane, missing the drills by inches but he hit my saddle tanks on the tractor. Did major frame damage to the tanks. Was blaring the horn as he went by. The sad part was the Deputy sherrif investigating the accident did not charge the driver with anything. He claimed there wasn't enough evidence to file a formal complaint. Oh yeah, the driver did not even stop until 15 miles later when the police pulled him over. Hit and run, not to mention careless endangerment of other people. One thing is certain though, I will not be so nice next time. I did get an insurance settlement from his insurance provider. But that was not enough, in my opinion, to prevent him from doing the same stuff somewhere else.

 

[daffy]

I can tell you don't live in the east. People have lost touch with what it takes to farm. Equipment size don't help either. Roads here aren't made for 16 ft equip.

 

[ewbeye]

For common sense and safety, everyone needs to share the roads, both the farmer and the people driving vehicles. I just wished that more people driving vehicles on country roads would think to remember that the farmers pay most of the taxes towards the upkeep of these roads. In most cases here in Illinois, land property lines extend to near the center of any adjacent road, so your taxed on the ditch and some of the road which is not farmed. Not to mention that licensing fees on grain trucks also add their share to road maintenance costs. I have seen people do some crazy things. An earlier post said it right, just slow down and think!

 

[brassring]

I too have had some close calls with big equipment but what makes me the maddest is my fellow farmers some of them feel i'm here so u just wait had a "fellow neighbor" seen me coming with my grain truck he was coming from another direction with a tractor and big auger wagon he ran a stop sign (didnt even slow down ) just to get in front of me and had to follow him and his 10ft wide unit two miles before he turned into his drive.Now I know we are all in a hurry but guys like this should have mirrors on those wide pieces of equipment and a little respect for folks behind them, things like this is what makes folks mad._ P.S for what its worth and this makes me no better than him I did the same to him with my planter the following spring!!!

 

[ksfarmer1]

In our area, I had a county road maintenance supervisor tell me once that the legal limit for width was 10 foot. Anything over 10 foot wide was over the limit and was illegal to travel down the road. I laughed at him and told him to take that one up with the equipment manufacturers because I would have to take my duals off to go down the road in that case. I told him it's pretty hard to fold an 8 row planter or row crop cultivator that wasn't made to fold. I guess we just have to be aware of the mentalities of those around us. Some just don't get it.

 

[ROCK]

I could post a bunch of stories as many I'm sure can about close encounters.....like tearing of a mirror of a BMW in a bridge with an ammonia knife, or the Mercedes that did not slow down while on the cell phone and ditched it at the last minute etc. I used to live around Indy in the urban blight and since my move away from there I have gone down in status. I am no longer number 1 here in my community I am now number 5....at least that is how many fingers I see from locals and yes other farmers too..............it a pleasant change. Courteous and careful go a long ways! Have a safe one

 

[Trit]

Tis' the season......

 

[Palouse_Custom_Cutter]

I think that this carelessness of drivers will eventually lead to some sort of catastrophe to the extent of bring national attention to oversize equipment on the roads. of course everytime it will be the farmers fault. Driver Education courses should emphasize more education towards dealing with oversize loads, slow moving, and semi trucks for a start. I think many drivers out there think we not only have no business on their road but are illegal in doing so. We seldom move down the highway anymore without at least getting several hand gestures. Most of the time we have one or two pilot cars with big oversize load signs above the roof and two flashing lights. What more can we do to protetct ourselvesIJ