Slow down, watch for farm equipment: Illinois State Police

Harvest season is underway in the Midwest and drivers are finding themselves sharing the roads with farming equipment that moves much slower than normal traffic. Ryan Wagand, an Illinois State Police trooper, spoke with Our Quad Cities News via Zoom to explain why drivers need to pay even closer attention to the roads this time of year.

“I think the biggest thing to know is that farmers are traveling between the fields,” he said. “It's going to happen. We know this just historically from the seasons and the biggest thing we want to stress is to just share the roadway safely and be patient. Whether that means allowing extra time or just planning a little bit ahead, the biggest thing is we have to share the road.”

“Farm equipment or the farm vehicles are slower moving vehicles. If you increase your following distance, are you able to see a little bit more, leave a little bit more space in between you than you would a normal vehicle? I think the biggest thing is reducing your speed to match theirs.”

Even though farmers move equipment throughout the growing season, Wagand said fall is an especially busy time on the roads. “This is time when the corn's starting to get taken down, so that's probably the biggest thing this this time of year. Going back to hazards, you still can't pass in in a no passing zone. It's still illegal to pass there, even if you do have a very slow moving vehicle. That's also within 100 feet of an intersection or a railroad crossing as well.”

Drivers can face hefty fines for each violation during harvest season, he said. “It's $164 for improper passing, when you're passing when you're not supposed to be and they can stack up. The reason we have this is because it's deadly. There’s a reason we have these no passing zones. It's already an unsafe area, just in general, and then you add a large piece of farm equipment, that makes it that much more unsafe.” The Illinois DOT said in 2024, there were four fatal incidents involving farm equipment and 74 people injured in the state.

Wagand has several reminders for drivers and farmers at this time of year. “Make sure that you've cleared the farm equipment before getting back into your lane. If you are in a passing zone and you do pass, and I see it a lot with cars passing semis, it's kind of the same thing where they get over and they almost cut off the semi in front of them. I'd say it's the same thing with farm equipment, don't get over too soon. Obviously, when you pass, you want to make sure you have enough room to do the maneuver but make sure that it's safe to get back over into your lane.”

“With farm equipment, you want to watch for indications of them turning. Most equipment does have turn signals but some of the older ones, they're missing that. We want to make sure to watch for the farmer's hand signals, whether you can see the farmer inside there or if he's sticking his hand out of whatever equipment they're operating.”

“Another big one is when they're making a left turn. A lot of times they have to swing right a little bit because they have such large equipment to turn left. We've seen it where people think that they're turning right because they're slightly maneuvering right to turn left. They go to pass and then we have a crash because someone was trying to go around them quickly.” A common hand sign for turning left is to point in that direction, while turning right is the arm bent at the elbow with the fist pointing up.

Wagand has tips to help farmers get through harvest season safely. “If you're able to, and it's not always going to happen, but try to avoid the rush hours or the busier roadways when possible. Trying not to be moving the equipment during bad weather when things are already a little bit more unsafe or when there's low visibility or even when it's dark out. Making sure that you're using reflectors, all the flashing amber lights. Something else is just doing a quick walk through before you leave, making sure that these lights and signs are visible. A lot of times there's dirt flying up and it can cover the signs and the lights.”

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