How safe is tractor driving? In a year and a half, there were ten deaths in traffic accidents involving tractors
According to the data of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, ten deaths of tractor drivers or passengers were registered in a year and a half, and only in September three people died after falling from a tractor or a traffic accident.
At the height of the harvest of the vineyards and fruit growers, more and more tractor drivers are present in the traffic at night. The problem is driving before sunrise when visibility is significantly reduced and their vehicle or trailer is not properly lit. This is the "black spot" when it often happens that reduced visibility is the reason for causing traffic accidents with dead and seriously injured people.
As the Ministry of Internal Affairs informs "Free press", four tractor drivers died last year, while two passengers also died. This year, as of July, four deaths of people who were transported by tractor were recorded, while three deaths were recorded in the police bulletins during the month of September. In a year and a half, 62 people were injured, of which 21 people suffered serious bodily injuries, according to the statistics maintained by the Ministry of the Interior.
The largest number of deaths are due to overturning of tractors, which are driven on inaccessible terrain, but the police have also registered cases where tractors participate in traffic accidents with other vehicles.
Two weeks ago, the police bulletin recorded a case where a minor was run over by a tractor driver who then fled the scene of the accident.
In addition to technically defective tractors and unlit machinery, the causes of traffic accidents are fatigue, but also intake of alcohol during the execution of agricultural work.
The fine for driving a tractor with defective light signaling is about 200 euros, but it is obvious that the tractor drivers are not afraid, and they continue to use the tractors in extremely unsafe conditions. The law requires tractors to have adequate light signaling, and very little money is needed for this. But despite that, the tractor drivers do not take care of it.
In the past, the Republican Council for Road Traffic Safety has implemented a large number of preventive activities aimed at raising awareness of the need for greater or adequate lighting of tractors, trailers and other mobile machines when they participate in traffic.
