Being safe on the highways during the 2021 harvest season

The harvest season is starting up across southern Alberta, and with the harvest comes agricultural machinery travelling on our highways. These machines are known to be slow moving, take up a large portion of the road, and aren’t lit up as well as normal machines and trucks. 

Director of Public Operations with Lethbridge County, Jeremy Wickson, says it’s important to take your time and not be in a rush this harvest season.

“For dust or late in the day conditions, you definitely need to be aware the tractors and stuff like that are on the highway because most times they aren’t as lit up as regular commercial traffic,” says Wickson. 

“So, as far as moving in and around those pieces of traffic, it’s just the question of using the appropriate passing at the safe time, following them as you need to, depending on whether you’re on a single lane highway or a double lane highway or on a gravel road. In some instances, there are some situations on our gravel roads in Lethbridge County where the size of some of the agricultural equipment, you will need to pull into an approach, so that vehicle can pass by you,” added Wickson. 

Harvest season runs until early November, so Lethbridge County says it’s important to keep an eye out for slow moving machinery until then.