Farmers reminded of road safety after fatal tractor collision
© Adobe Stock Following a fatal road collision near Sherborne in Dorset, farmers are being urged to travel safely with heavy loads during the busy harvest period.
Officers from Dorset Police are appealing for witnesses and dashcam footage after a collision between a Suzuki Celerio car and a New Holland tractor occurred on Saturday 22 June.
See also: Farmers warned of combine fire risk ahead of harvest
Emergency services attended the scene, but the driver of the Suzuki, a local man aged in his 80s, was sadly pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the tractor was unharmed.
Sergeant Richard Stroud, of the Dorset Police Roads Policing Team, said: “Our thoughts are with the family and loved ones of the man who very sadly died in this collision.
“We are conducting a full and thorough investigation to establish the circumstances of what happened.
“I would urge any witnesses, or anyone who may have captured relevant dashcam footage, to please make contact with us.
“Finally, I would like to thank members of the public for their patience and understanding while the road closures were in place.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact Dorset Police at www.dorset.police.uk, via email at scit@dorset.pnn.police.uk or by calling 101, quoting incident number 22:185.
Load safety
As the busy harvest season approaches, farmers across the country are likely to be spending more time than usual driving agricultural machinery on roads.
The NFU has issued new advice for transporting vehicle loads safely, in line with updated guidance from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) announced last year.
This states that all users, including employers, self-employed farmers and drivers, must assess and manage risks during the loading, transport, and unloading of agricultural products.
This includes considering the risk of load movement during the journey and while unloading, along with other risks such as working at height and manual handling.
When it comes to sheeting and netting, the DVSA guidance states that users must sheet and/or net their loads to stop them from bouncing upwards on open vehicles, unless the load is secured by other means, such as the structure of the vehicle or trailer.
In practical terms, the NFU says that you can consider a load to be secure if your risk assessment shows that a load is below the height of the trailer or vehicle body to the extent that the structure of the vehicle sufficiently secures it.
The full DVSA guidance on securing and transporting loads can be accessed at gov.uk.