Tractor and truck accident

   / Tractor and truck accident #1  

RichZ

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 4, 2001
Messages
1,876
Location
White Creek, New York, Washington County, on the V
Tractor
Kubota 4630 with cab and loader
Last night, my wife and I were driving on our road, in our pickup truck, and arrived immediately after a terrible accident. A pickup truck rear ended a tractor. The tractor looked like a Farmall Super M, and was driven by a man who had his son riding on the drawbar. (We all know how dangerous that is!) He had front head lights, and two rear task lights on the tractor. He also had magnetic flashing amber lights on it. The driver of the truck hit the back of the tractor and completely flipped it over. The driver of the tractor flipped over backwards, his head hit the windshield of the truck, and he bounced off and hit the pavement. The rider on the drawbar was thrown sideways onto the soft shoulder. It was a miracle they both survived.

When we arrived both father and son were lying on the pavement. But the father got up to see if his son was OK, and they both were walking around. Luckily my wife is an RN and I've had first aide training. The father was bleeding severely from the head. My wife got him to lie down. I got a flashlight and a roll of paper towels from my truck. My wife made a pressure bandage out of the paper towells and kept pressure on his headwound, while she checked to see if he had trouble breathing or had other serious injuries. Then I kept pressure on the bandage while she checked out the teenager, who seemed only to have a leg injury, possible broken ankle. While we were doing this other people stopped and called 911. The father never lost conciousness while we were there and was talking all the time. The head wound, though very bloody, didn't appear too bad, though of course we couldn't tell if his skull was fractured. He had pain in his side, and probably had some broken ribs. He also had neck and back pain.

The driver of the truck was OK, his air bag went off. When he got out, I noticed beer cans that may have fallen out of the truck, which I pointed out to the police when they arrived.

When the paramdics arrived, my wife informed them of their condition. They examined the victims and came to the same conclusions as my wife. They got a helicopter in to airlift the father to Albany Medical Center, and they took the son to the local hospital.

I see neighbors with passengers on tractors all the time, and it makes me crazy. But this was in pitch dark on a well travelled rural road with a speed limit of 55. I take my tractors on it all the time during daylight hours, when I'm heading over to help at other farms, but I'd never do it in the dark. And with his own son on it, I just can't believe it!

But with the rear task lights and flashing lights, the tractor should have been very visible! The driver of the truck sure must have been going fast to do that kind of damage. I did not speak to him as he was uninjured, I just told him not to move until the police came. The father and son kept saying they didn't even know what hit them. They both kept saying all their lights were on.

The real sad thing is the father and son were on their way to the Washington County Fair to take part in a tractor pull competition, with the now wrecked tractor. A night of good wholesome fun turned into an almost fatal disaster. No one was guiltless in this terrible accident, and we thank God that no one was killed.

I just thought you all would want to hear about this. I just can't get it out of my mind, neither can my wife!
 
   / Tractor and truck accident #2  
RichZ,

Thanks for sharing this experience. When I'm driving in my car/truck, and coming up to a curve, I try and imagine if I could be seen if I was on my tractor. I shudder to think of coming around a corner, at 55 mph, and seeing a tractor in my way. Add alcohol to the equation and there's a disaster waiting to happen, as it did in this case. Hopefully, father and son will fully recover and, if the driver was drinking, they will throw the book at the guy. You and your wife are to be commended for stopping to assist and supply first aid.
 
   / Tractor and truck accident #4  
Rich, it is nice that you could stop and be of some real help. Staying calm and being there for the needs of the farmer and his son is probably more important than they know. People drive way to fast on back roads at night. We have to be careful around here as we have alot of amish and you can really come up fast on a buggy and obviously a tractor too.
 
 
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