Safety of farm vehicles on Delaware's public roads

Abstract

The agricultural industry heavily relies on farming machinery, not only for field works, but also for transporting equipment, livestock, goods, and labor between fields and markets. This means that farm vehicles need to travel on public roads, especially during the plantation and harvest seasons. However, these vehicles are not mainly designed for transportation purposes, and some of their inherent features such as low speed, heavy weight, and large size, can cause transportation issues including posing safety hazards on the roads, deteriorating the pavement, and interrupting the traffic flow. These issues are well studied in some of the Midwestern states, but in Delaware, despite being an agricultural state, no previous study was found. ☐ This study aims to put forth a better understanding of the nature and extent of the safety-related issues caused by the transport of farm vehicles on Delaware’s public roads. First, a comprehensive review of the relevant literature is conducted to highlight the findings of national and international studies. Next, the Farm Vehicle Crashes (FVCs) in Delaware from May 2005 to August 2020 are analyzed to identify the characteristics of these crashes. The state’s regulations affecting the safety of farm vehicles on the roads are reviewed and compared to the latest standards. Finally, a set of best practices for mitigating these issues is recommended. ☐ FVCs only comprise a small portion of all roadway crashes. However, compared to passenger cars and trucks the number of farm vehicle-related crashes is disproportionate to the number of farm vehicles and their miles traveled on public roads. The fatality rate and severity of FVCs are significantly higher than non-farm vehicle crashes. The conflicts between regular traffic and farm vehicles are increased due to the expansion of urban boundaries towards rural areas, leading to a steady trend in the number of fatal FVCs over the last decade both in the U.S. and Europe. Equipping farm vehicles with Rollover Protective Structure (ROPS) and seatbelts, improvements in lighting and marking, educating the public and farmers, and road improvements are proposed as some of the most effective and practical safety improvement strategies. ☐ In Delaware, on average, 14 FVCs occurred each year. The percentage of personal injury crashes was similar to the state average rate for all crashes. However, the percentage of fatal FVCs was found to be 3.7 times higher. More than half of the FVCs occurred in Sussex County, which was found to be proportionate to the number of farm vehicles operating in this county. One-third of the crashes occurred within urban boundaries, and the rest in rural areas. The highest frequency of FVCs throughout the year occurred from April to July, and the lowest from January to March, indicating that despite the common belief, more crashes occurred during the plantation and growing seasons than the harvest season. The peak for all crashes throughout the day happened at noon, but the peak for personal injuries occurred later in the afternoon. This can imply that the severity of the crashes was increased towards the darker hours of the day, although other factors such as fatigue due to farmer’s long work hours can also be involved. The majority of the FVCs took place during daylight, in clear weather, and on a dry surface. Rear-end collision was the most common collision type. The percentage of rear-end collisions in dark conditions was 4 times higher than during daylight, which indicates the importance of improving the visibility of farm vehicles. Rollovers and head-on collisions each accounted for about 2% of the FVCs but had the highest injury rate than other crash types.