Abstract
BackgroundTractors and other slow-moving self-propelled farm equipment are often used on public roadway to transfer goods from the farm to a market or distributer. Increased roadway exposure has led to a growing concern on the occurrence of farm equipment crashes. This study aims to compare characteristics of road segments with farm equipment crashes to road segments without farm equipment crashes in the state of Iowa.MethodsData were obtained from the Iowa Department of Transportation from 2005 to 2011 on all crashes involving farm equipment, and features of all Iowa roadways. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) was used to identify geospatial features, such as road type, speed limit, traffic volume surface type, road and shoulder width of where a crash occurred. Logistic regression models were used to measure the associations between road characteristics and the occurrence of farm equipment crashes. Crude and adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were reported.ResultsA total of 1371 farm equipment crashes were reported in Iowa over the 6-year period and geocoded onto a street location. As traffic volume increased, the odds of a crash occurring also increased. Roadways with posted speed limits between 50 and 60 mph were associated with a higher odds of having crashes on them compared to roadways with speeds less than 35 mph (OR = 8.05, 95% CI: 6.59–9.84). Iowa routes (OR = 5.98, 95% CI: 4.97–7.20) had the highest odds of having crashes compared to local routes. Increased road width (OR = 0.90, 95% CI: 0.86–0.94) was associated with a 10% decrease in the odds of a crash.ConclusionsHigher traffic volume, higher posted speed limits, road type, and smaller road widths were associated with the occurrence of farm equipment crashes. Findings from this study can be used to guide policy to improve roadway design and conditions for all road users.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40621-016-0096-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Tractors and other slow-moving self-propelled farm equipment are often used on public roadway to transfer goods from the farm to a market or distributer
According to the Iowa Department of Transportation (IDOT) crash reports from 2004 to 2014, 2108 farm equipment crashes occurred on public roadways that resulted in 660 injuries
There was a total of 1371 farm equipment crashes reported from 2005 to 2011, and these occurred on 1337 road segments, less than one percent of Iowa’s 319,705 road segments
Summary
Tractors and other slow-moving self-propelled farm equipment are often used on public roadway to transfer goods from the farm to a market or distributer. In the United States, transportation-related incidents accounted for half of all agricultural worker fatalities in 2014, and of these incidents approximately 27% were due to crashes occurring on public roadways (Bureau of Labor Statistics U.S Departement of Labor 2015). According to the Iowa Department of Transportation (IDOT) crash reports from 2004 to 2014, 2108 farm equipment crashes occurred on public roadways that resulted in 660 injuries and 79 fatalities (Iowa Department of Transportation 2015). Operating tractors and other slow-moving farm equipment on public roadways places agricultural workers at risk for collisions (Gerberich et al 1996) and injuries. Over a 10-year period, approximately 82% of farm equipment crashes involved non-farm vehicles, and among those resulting in at least one driver injury, drivers of non-farm vehicles were five times more likely to be injured than the farm equipment operators (Peek-Asa et al 2007), demonstrating the need or urgency to develop and implement preventive measures.
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