Tractor driver speaks out over fine for 50-car tailback

A tractor driver has hit out after magistrates fined him £190 for allowing a 50-car tailback.

Jake Fear, 20, pleaded guilty to driving without reasonable consideration for other road users – the same charge police issue motorists for “hogging” the middle lane and driving slowly.

“I think it is all a bit silly. At the end of the day I was just doing my job,” said Mr Fear, of Highbridge, Somerset.

See also: Police call on tractor drivers to pull into lay-bys more often

“I work for a contractor driving tractors and stuff and I was on my way to a farm with a load of beet and I got pulled over. 

“They told me off for the amount of traffic that was behind me. I was just doing what I normally do. I was driving normally. 

“They were adamant that there was a fair amount of traffic behind me, but I’m pretty sure there wasn’t that much.”

Mr Fear is believed to be one of the first farmworkers in the country to be fined for the offence after police forces across the South West warned tractor drivers to pull into lay-bys more often to let cars by.

The case has reignited the debate over farmers who complain that not enough is done to create awareness among the public of the need for large modern farm machinery to access roads to enable food production to be maintained.

‘Not enough lay-bys’

Farmers also complain that many rural roads are inadequate to cope with big machinery and there are not enough safe areas to pull over and let vehicles pass.

In Mr Fear’s case, Somerset Magistrates Court at Yeovil was told that he allowed a 50-car tailback to build up behind him while he “trundled along” a main A road at 25mph, leaving a growing line of disgruntled motorists in his wake. 

Christine Hart, prosecuting, said: “The trailer contained beet which was piled high. Due to the manner of driving the officer stopped Mr Fear and asked why he hadn’t pulled over. 

“He replied that he had only noticed the lorry behind him and he did not see the half a mile of traffic and argued that there had not been any places to pull over.”

Police saw the half-mile long queue on the A39 near Glastonbury, Somerset, and ordered him to pull over with his trailer of beets. 

However, Mr Fear told police he had no idea about the tailback because a lorry was blocking his rear view. 

He said he was driving at the legal speed limit for tractors and had pulled over twice in the journey on the morning of 9 November last year to let cars overtake. 

Family says fine is ‘unfair’

He added: “We are meant to pull over in every three lay-bys to let the traffic pass, but it was early in the morning and there was constant traffic, so there was no point. 

“There was a lorry behind me. I could see a couple of cars, but I couldn’t see the volume of traffic behind me. 

“I didn’t know I was doing something wrong until they pulled me over. I haven’t heard of anyone who has been pulled over and fined for it. 

“I’m not going to argue with it because there isn’t a lot I can do about it, but if I lose my licence then that is my job out of the window. 

“My family disagrees with the fine because they think it is unfair.”

After stopping him, police also noticed that he had a badly worn tyre, for which he was fined a further £190. 

Mr Fear was also ordered to pay £85 costs and a £20 victim surcharge and three points were added to his licence.