Fatal Tractor Rollover

[shooterdon]

That's about 30 minutes north of us.
Very sad.
Still important to wear a seatbelt even in a cabbed machine.

Everyone I know ridicules me for putting on the seatbelt.

I have only had a tractor for five years so ignore them. I do not know what I do not know, but figure staying on the seat in the cab is better than getting ejected when I do something stupid.

 

[mcmxi]

The "rules" couldn't be any clearer:

ROPs down - do not wear a seat belt
ROPs up - wear a seat belt
Cab - wear a seat belt

Your chances of surviving a crash are very low once you're ejected from the vehicle. It's easy to get complacent about safety, and the adage "familiarity breeds contempt" is as true as it ever was.

 

[MossRoad]

Yep!

 

[Bearsixty7]

Odd, the only photo I'm seeing shows the rear end of the tractor towards the camera and the implement apparently completely detached and in front of the tractor. Stuff could have been moved, but roads are often closed with a fatality.

I agree, he was probably going far to fast for the equipment.

Many vehicles are also impacted if a tire is dropped off of the pavement onto the gravel or grass, so it doesn't take much to alter conditions.

It appears to me as if when in transport mode, most of the weight of that soil conditioner is behind the wheels. It may have had significant negative tongue weight.

I'd be curious how it towed if one reached 20 to 30 MPH.

Very Sad.

It's still connected, sort of, appears to have sheared the top of the pin off, click on the photo and zoom in.

 

[Coffee drinker]

I never wear a seat belt in mine tractor, but there is a good reason to start.

 

[MossRoad]

Very Sad.

It's still connected, sort of, appears to have sheared the top of the pin off, click on the photo and zoom in.

View attachment 861547

Yep. I downloaded the picture and rotated it. you can see the pin still in the hitch.

 

[repete]

Depends on what I am doing and where. Working for a FD, I have seen a number of deaths from equipment rolling over. Most had ROPS and the occupant would have been fine if they had stayed in the seat. Hillsides and loss of control and despite what many say, a tractor that is rolling over will likely not allow you to jump to get free. One had the ROPS severe his head from the body.

A couple of the tractors (or rollers) were righted and the bodies removed and after a little bit of sitting, were driven away.

I wear it when I am on the road and a hillside. Level in the flat field pulling a harrow for hours on end, no seat belt.

 

[kozal01]

This is sad to see. Good reminder for us though that these things are dangerous!

 

[Bansil]

I'm on a go-kart forum and this is something we press hard on new owners/riders and especially parents....

The "rules" couldn't be any clearer:

ROPs down - do not wear a seat belt
ROPs up - wear a seat belt
Cab - wear a seat belt

Your chances of surviving a crash are very low once you're ejected from the vehicle. It's easy to get complacent about safety, and the adage "familiarity breeds contempt" is as true as it ever was.

Except the cab part...

 

[CliffordK]

Except the cab part...

I'm still trying to figure out how one gets ejected from an intact cab. It would be a mighty freak accident if one was operating at less than 5 MPG in a field.

As I understand it the ROPS aren't designed for a full roll over, but rather to stop the tractor from rolling beyond flopping on the side.

This accident was apparently specific to driving on the road and towing the implement in transport mode.

Even going 5mph or 10mph to zero is a pretty traumatic event. But, I would expect momentum to not cause such a hard stop in most cases without an impact. But, perhaps if the tractor is spun around 90 degrees, that would give a pretty hard deceleration.

All tractors I've been on don't go very fast. Although perhaps there is an effort to bring faster road transport modes, especially in Europe. So, perhaps a seatbelt in the cab at road transport speeds would be a good idea.