I run my geared tractor right up against my cabin, shed, cars, trucks. And it isn't a lawn mower either, its a good sized CUT. If I hit something it has nothing to do with gearing and everything to do with negligence and an HST isn't going to protect anyone from that.
And you should see my BIL moving hay bales with his geard JD ag tractor. Not only loading and unloading, but you should see him dumping them and then unrolling them by pushing them with the front wheel, never slowing down! That's precision.