Semi hits mowing crew tractor

[gobbler]

Yesterday afternoon, a semi truck plowed into the back of a Missouri Department of Transportation worker who was mowing. By the pictures on the news last night, it's amazing that the tractor operator was not killed. After hitting the tractor, the truck ran off the road and nearly hit a fireworks stand. Below is a link to the article, which has a picture of the tractor. Check out the gallery pictures also.

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.hannibal.net/stories/062602/hap_0626020045.shtml>http://www.hannibal.net/stories/062602/hap_0626020045.shtml</A>

 

[rancar]

Wow....that tractor got demolished. I agree....not sure how the tractor operator survived except by the grace of God.

 

[TBone]

That was one lucky man. And in this case he was lucky he wasn't wearing his seatbelt.

TBone

 

[hazmat]

<font color=blue>not sure how the tractor operator survived </font color=blue>

Looks like he wasn't wearing his seat belt, or it failed & he went flying. He was very lucky.

Generally you are better off to buckle up. he could have just as easily ended up under the tractor or semi.

With all the road rage / bad drivers etc. you hear about today it might be time to incorporate the large energy absorbing bumpers they use on construction trucks on tractors. Or use a "chase truck" to protect the mowing crews. They certaintley don't design the tracors for collisions with autos.

Anybody have stats on the number of auto/truck vs. tractor collisions?

 

[gobbler]

I know the lady mentioned in the article. She is the spokesperson for MODOT in Hannibal. Our kids are on the same baseball team. I'll ask if she knows whether the seat belt was used or not.

 

[RoyJackson]

"That was one lucky man. And in this case he was lucky he wasn't wearing his seatbelt."

It doesn't appear that tractor had a ROPS. I can't believe it did and the ROPS was crushed or torn off.

So, remember...it the tractor has a ROPS, use your seat belt. If there is no ROPS, you're better off getting thrown away (or jump) from the tractor.

He's a lucky guy!!! Kinda surprised he didn't get a whiplash type injury!

 

[MikePA]

<font color=blue>and hit a southbound John Deere tractor driven by Black, which was on the right shoulder of the highway, partly on the road.</font color=blue>

This portion of the story does not sound good for the tractor driver or the state.

 

[PTFarmer]

Looks like some work for kubmech. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[Ozarker]

Look at the photo gallery. it had a ROPS and the ROPS was torn off. You can see the left upright for the ROPS where it was torn off. Looks like it was attached to the rear differential and the truck tore the left rear wheel and part of the differential off.

 

[rdln]

JD 2150, nice machine. I wish I could get my hands on a 2155 or 2355 MFWD.

160,000lbs (if loaded) against 6 or 7,000lbs aint no rops gonna hold.

 

[Soundguy]

More than likely, if there mowing practices are anything like here in florida, the tractor has to pull on and off the road many times throughout the day to get around signs, etc. As a slow moving vehicle, he should be afforded right of way.
More than likely, the semi truck driver wasn't paying as much attention as he should have been.. or he wouldn't have been in the lane closest to the tractor. I'm surprised that threat avoidance courses aren't mandatory for the cdl licenses.. they even teach that stuff in drivers ed these days.

Either way.. glad the drivers were unhurt.

Soundguy

<font color=blue>and hit a southbound John Deere tractor driven by Black, which was on the right shoulder of the highway, partly on the road.

<font color=red>This portion of the story does not sound good for the tractor driver or the state.

 

[Jeff396]

With the way traffic is lately, it's darn near impossible to get out of the right lane unless you have plenty of notice. Imagine how much harder it is towing a 40 footer. You're lucky if the cars in the left lane are leaving much more than a car space between them while going 80 mph. Of course you could put a turn signal on but that usually just causes the traffic in the left lane to tighten up even more.....especially when it's a semi. I drove a semi for a while and I don't wish to go back to it what with the way traffic is now a days. I just took a trip from SC to FL last week. I don't think I was hardly able to use the cruise control there was so much traffic. This all especially applies to the east coast.

Jeff