Farm vehicles such as tractors and combines are frequent sights on rural roads across Arizona. Although manufacturers design farm vehicles for off-road use, sometimes it is necessary for agricultural workers to operate them on public roads.
There are numerous rules that farm vehicles must comply with when operating on public streets. For example, farm vehicles typically need to have slow-moving vehicle warning signs posted in visible locations. They may also need to have lights installed so that others can see them when it is dark outside. They need to stay as far right as they can to allow other vehicles to pass if possible.
Farm vehicles typically need to follow the same traffic laws as any other vehicle on the road. Occasionally, farm vehicles in traffic are the reason that collisions occur. Drivers come around a curve or crest a hill and find themselves unable to stop before striking a farm vehicle.
What happens after a crash with a tractor or similar agricultural vehicle?
There could be an elevated risk of injury
Despite moving at slow speeds, tractors and other farm machinery are highly dangerous in traffic. They are dangerous to the people operating them because they often do not have a standard vehicle’s systems and safety restraints to protect someone from the force of a crash. Particularly if the collision involves a motor vehicle rear-ending an older tractor, the agricultural professional operating the vehicle could end up thrown from the cab and severely injured as a result.
However, the people in the other vehicle are also at risk. The overall height and weight of farm vehicles tends to make them substantially larger than standard passenger vehicles. They can cause severe vehicle damage and catastrophic injuries to vehicle occupants.
Particularly in scenarios where the person operating the farm vehicle violated the law or did something unsafe, the farm vehicle might be at fault for a crash that leaves other people in need of emergency medical care. Obviously, a vehicle intended for agricultural use does not have the same kind of insurance coverage that most motor vehicles must have to operate on public roads.
Thankfully, most agricultural operations do have insurance that applies to all sorts of operational liability. Whether the person driving the tractor is an employee or the owner of the farm, it may be possible to hold the agricultural business accountable for the injuries and property damage losses generated in a tractor collision on public roads.
Those injured in collisions involving tractors or other farm equipment on public roads may need to talk with someone familiar with liability rules in Arizona to about their options for compensation. People can sometimes recover lost wages, medical expenses and other costs triggered by an incident in traffic.