Harvest season has begun in southeast Iowa, and Washington County Sheriff Jared Schneider is reminding drivers about the importance of traffic safety with active farm equipment.

This time of year, drivers will notice ag equipment moving to different fields or grain wagons transporting grain into town.

Schneider tells KCII News what drivers in regular vehicles should be doing, “You’re not used to seeing the big equipment out on the roadway. Just a reminder to pay attention to those things. They are out there and they are getting busy right now. So you need to pay attention and plan a little bit extra time into your trip in case you come across something. When you do come across farm equipment travelling down the roadway make sure that you give them plenty of space.”  

Oncoming traffic may be less patient and pull out suddenly to pass the farm equipment directly into your path of travel, so it’s not just the agricultural vehicles to look out for.

Those operating equipment should ensure adequate lighting, especially in the evenings, so that other vehicles have more time to react to your movements. The most common cause of accidents is speeding and failing to react to the situation ahead of them in time.