Julie Bidwell wants the Saskatchewan government to make the safe movement of farm equipment on highways a higher priority.
Bidwell, who works for the Centre for Agricultural Medicine’s rural health extension program in Saskatoon, said the province lags behind its prairie counterparts.
“I don’t think it has been a priority in Saskatchewan. I think since Manitoba has implemented new legislation, people in Saskatchewan are looking at our legislation and saying is it adequate and do we need to publicize more?”
Manitoba’s legislation, which was passed in September 1997, regulates lighting and marking of farm equipment on highways.
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“Manitoba has very clear recommendations about where flashers must be put, about hours of the day farm equipment can be on the road, and the type of marking devices that are required,” said Bidwell.
Since then, Saskatchewan’s highways department has been monitoring the situation in Manitoba to see if Saskatchewan’s regulations need to change.
Glen Gilks, a senior policy adviser for the department, said one of the only differences between Manitoba and Saskatchewan is that Saskatchewan doesn’t allow night driving.
“We’ve been under pressure to allow night movement. And we’ve said we’re waiting to see what happens in Manitoba because certainly our primary concern is that vehicles be moved safely. It’s not a matter of day or night; it’s just that a lot of these vehicles aren’t well enough lit.
“We wouldn’t be comfortable allowing them on a road at night.”
He said Saskatchewan has high standards for regulations on marking farm equipment, but may not be doing an adequate job of informing farmers.
“We need to communicate the regulations and communicate the intent of the regulation.
“And make sure that people are completely aware and fully understand the intent.
“That’s the weakness right now, because we do have regulations in place but if people still don’t understand, then they aren’t going to comply.”
Saskatchewan efforts lagging
Saskatchewan is the only prairie province that hasn’t produced a handbook explaining how to safely move farm equipment, but Gilks said the internet or highway hotline may be better communication methods than booklets.
Bidwell agreed Saskatchewan should do a better job of educating farmers about transportation safety.
Clearer marking guidelines would also help, she said.
“There have been eight deaths in a seven-year period and probably these collision deaths on the roads of Saskatchewan, involving farm machinery, could all have been prevented,” she said.
“I think appropriately marking machinery and having a set of reasonable, easy-to-follow guidelines in Saskatchewan legislation, that’s one easy thing we can do.”
Gilks said no major changes to legislation will be made in the immediate future, unless Saskatchewan decides to allow night driving.
But for now, he agrees with Bidwell that it’s more important to let people know about the current regulations and put them to use.
