University of Iowa study: More lighting on farm vehicles would reduce number of crashes

[TexasTowelie]

Traffic crashes involving combines and tractors would decrease by more than half if state policies required more lighting and reflection on those farm vehicles, according to a new study from the University of Iowa College of Public Health.

The study’s release coincides with the harvest season, the most dangerous time of the year for such accidents, when large, slow-moving farm equipment is often on the roads at dusk and after dark, said Marizen Ramirez, lead author of the study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

“Many drivers misjudge the time and distance it takes to slow down when they approach a farm vehicle from behind. Better lighting would give them more time,” said Ramirez, who recently transferred to the University of Minnesota.

Iowa and the eight other Corn Belt states in the study report an average of about 1,000 farm vehicle-related crashes each year, many of which cause severe or fatal injuries.

Read more: http://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/business/agriculture/ui-study-more-lighting-on-farm-vehicles-would-reduce-number-of-crashes-20161021

[madaboutharry]

1. They needed a study to figure this out?

[TexasTowelie]

2. It does seem kind of obvious, doesn't it?

Unfortunately I had two distant cousins that died in the late 1970s when they were returning to college after Thanksgiving and they ran into a hay trailer at dusk. I didn't hear the story from relatives until I almost graduated from college that they attended the same university as I did about eight years earlier.

[IADEMO2004]

3. and keeping the lights clean!

dust and dirt quick cover lights in a very short time.