Well at 1.15pm Tuesday I was driving up an unclassified road to deliver steel to an engineering firm in my 26 tonne flat bed. I was near the village of Chittlehampton in Devon. I saw out of the corner of my eye a tractor which was driving down toward the road I was on from a farm. It hadn’t reached the junction of my road yet and it was my right of way anyway so I kept on driving. I had just rounded a sharp 90 degree bend so was probably only doing about 15 mph. I hadn’t seen the bale spikes at this point. All I remember is hearing a horrible noise as the bale spikes which were above the cab of the tractor and about 6 feet in front of it collided with my lorry. When I stopped and got out, the spikes had sliced the top of my cab and peeled the back of it off like a tin can. A foot lower and the bale spikes would have been in my head and I would be dead.
The tractor driver got out and said that apparently I came from nowhere, he looked about 16 yrs old. I exchanged details with the farmer and drove off. Later popping back in to get the registration number. I took loads of photos. It was only on the way home back to Henstridge in Somerset that I realised how close I had come to death. What on earth is a tractor doing driving on the public highway with the bale spikes pointing forward at lorry cab height a full 4-6 feet in front of the tractor cab. He couldn’t possibly see what was coming until the spikes were halfway across the road because of the hedges either side.
I informed the police about the incident and the dangerous driving involved but they weren’t interested presumably because I was still alive. Still feeling shaken but fortunate to be alive. My lorry needs a new roof and will be off the road for a few weeks.
I came close to having a similar encounter a couple of months back coming down the A6 (!) towards Garstang. There was a tractor with bale spikes waiting to come out of a side junction but even though he had them lifted up fairly high, they were still protruding over the road and the S-series Scania is a tall cab. There was a car from the opposite direction sat in the hatched box waiting to turn into the road he was coming out of so I couldn’t move over onto the hatches. I didn’t fancy my chances so I made the executive decision to come to a swift halt and let them both get out of the way, much to the annoyance of the vehicles behind who’d been happily following me at 50mph until that point.
I can see power(?) cables there, but wouldn’t it have been safer if those tines were angled up or down rather than straight out in front? And presumably the driver assumed the Fans were just floating along above hedge height?
Anyways lucky one for you. [emoji3]
Fizzifish:
I saw out of the corner of my eye a tractor which was driving down toward the road I was on from a farm.
and it was my right of way anyway so I kept on driving.
You saw it but you decided you had the right of way so kept driving . Theres your mistake . Devon - the land of high hedges and narrow roads . When you get advance warning that something like that is coming near you then its time to slow down and be extra cautious .Bale spikes , pallet forks ,muck grabs all found on tractors with loaders - all can do serious damage . If you see them heading your way its best to be ready to react even if you have the right of way .
No point being dead or seriously injured and being right .
I learned to drive in a tractor, and as a teen reversed into an old wooden barn door with a hay spike on the back - then foolishly went forward again, taking the door off its hinges, impaled on the spikes.
Very glad you did not end up impaled.
I hope the insurance is quick and straightforward.
When I was young it was the done thing when rural driving to beep your horn as you rounded every bend. Optimists would say that a couple of blasts of of your horn might have alerted this young lad to your presence, the realists among us would know that doesn’t work anymore
I’ve had a good few close encounters on rural roads like that, nothing as dramatic as your’s mind you, just entertaining ones where some one with more money than driving sense has to reverse their shiny vehicle into a passing space - the concept of reverse gear seems totally alien to many drivers of “prestige vehicles”
Know the pain , had the same in farm yrd taking a break from loading having a sandwich , I just looked to the right and a kin tractor just like “your one” coming towards me driver head down lighting a ■■■! . I just blew the horn and fell over away and he smacked right into the wing the forks scraped the cab roof … his bloody boss said my fault for being parked there !! Wasn’t a good scene when my boss sent a local friend to see the damage and scene .The mention of H&S attending changed farmers mind over blame
I would have got the Police out to this. I saw a similar incident a few years ago in which a double decker bus was involved. These farmers should have an ■■■■■■ vehicle if it is impossible to make the equipment safe to travel. We are plagued with telehandlers locally, one owner of these thinks it is ok to put a pallet on the forks and drive around with this at car height.
I’m sure on most versions those forks can flip 90’ and point upwards as seen quite a few round here driving with them in a safer position.
Grew up in ■■■■■■■ where we have quite a few, and as one side of my family came from farming stock, I talked to many over the years (no one in farming now). Some of the old school lot had some very interesting ideas of elf and safety… like “why does this apply to me? We never had this in my day”. Yep, thats why so many got injured.
Best bet these days, if you see a potential hazard such as a tractor or Chelsea Tractor, assume it’ll do something stupid, just incase. Then you can be pleasantly surprised.
Fizzifish:
I saw out of the corner of my eye a tractor which was driving down toward the road I was on from a farm.
and it was my right of way anyway so I kept on driving.
You saw it but you decided you had the right of way so kept driving . Theres your mistake . Devon - the land of high hedges and narrow roads . When you get advance warning that something like that is coming near you then its time to slow down and be extra cautious .Bale spikes , pallet forks ,muck grabs all found on tractors with loaders - all can do serious damage . If you see them heading your way its best to be ready to react even if you have the right of way .
No point being dead or seriously injured and being right .
I’m afraid I have to agree with this. And would also respectfully point out that in situations like this, proper use of the horn can be of considerable benefit.
When I was young it was the done thing when rural driving to beep your horn as you rounded every bend. Optimists would say that a couple of blasts of of your horn might have alerted this young lad to your presence, the realists among us would know that doesn’t work anymore
Always assuming the young lad can hear over the noise of his earphones!
Many years ago in my youth, I was a farm worker.
It was standard practice to drive with the loader raised on the road as it was less of a hazard to cars.
I did however see a guy who lived in a rented cottage in the farmyard nearly get kebabed by a front-end loader with a forklift attachment on it…he pulled out from behind his house in his car, and one fork went through the car in front of him and one behind. I wasn’t directly involved, but it shakes you up just seeing it.
What used to really worry me was running on the road in the dark with a Browns Squeezer on the 3-point links. For those who don’t know, it was a big clamp with a spike at the bottom designed to pick-up and carry stacked ‘flat-eights’ of conventional bales. When loaded, it completely obscured the tractor from behind. The tractor lights were hidden. I shudder to think what would have happened if someone had piled into the back…
Devon and Cornwall Traffic cops now have a commercial and agricultural vehicle specialist who I know would be all over this. I know because he is a mate of mine. He was only appointed to that role a few weeks back, so if this sort of thing happens again, drop him a line on 14300@devonandcornwall.pnn.police.uk
Fizzifish:
I saw out of the corner of my eye a tractor which was driving down toward the road I was on from a farm. It hadn’t reached the junction of my road yet and it was my right of way anyway so I kept on driving.
No such thing exists. There is no such thing as your right of way unless it is signposted such as traffic calming meaures where they narrow the road and indicate which direction has priority.
