JEFFERSON COUNTY (WKOW) --- Johnson Creek farmer Steve Duwe recalls a dangerous incident on while driving his tractor.
“I've almost hit somebody because they decided they would run the stop sign. Fortunately, I was able to slow down before impact occurred,” he said.
Duwe said he wasn't surprised to hear about the deadly crash Friday night in Jefferson County between a farming combine and an SUV that killed three people.
The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office has not said whether the people killed were in the SUV or driving the farm equipment, how the crash happened, or who died.
Duwe wants drivers to be more aware of farm machinery on the roads.
“Combines and most farm equipment is slower moving on the highways. And sometimes people take chances trying to get around it, trying to pass it or do things where it's not safe,” Duwe said. “Another issue that we see quite often is when a piece of farm equipment is coming down the road at an intersection and somebody's stopped at a stop sign or approaching a stop sign. They will often run it just to get ahead of that piece of farm equipment because they know it's going to be going slow for a ways,” he said.
From rolling hills to winding roads, a farmer traveling with a piece of farm equipment may be just around the bend or over the hill. So it's imperative to drive with caution in these high-risk areas.
“The equipment is wide and does take up much more than half the road because there's narrow to start with. So people have to be extra careful on those roads,” Duwe said.
He said farmers and drivers all share responsibility for safety on our roadways.
“We can't be operating over the center line going down the road with oncoming traffic and things like that.”
Duwe said he wants to remind people it's illegal to pass farm machinery in a no passing zone. He feels there should be more public awareness about how to share to road with farm equipment.
For more on this story: http://www.wkow.com/story/36766002/2017/11/4/farmers-wants-to-remind-drivers-to-share-the-road-after-deadly-crash-in-jefferson-county