WINNIPEG – Brenda Neabel-Turbett heard a story the other day that made her cringe.
A farmer was driving down the road with some equipment, and got his 12-year-old son to drive behind him in a half-ton truck with the flashers on.
“I just about died when I heard that,” said Neabel-Turbett, a registered nurse and farm partner. “He can hardly reach the pedals.”
Neabel-Turbett, who is on a Manitoba farm safety committee, believes kids should drive farm machinery only when they have a licence.
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“I think if the government doesn’t think you’re responsible enough and able to make the kinds of decisions necessary to drive a car, then chances are you don’t have those abilities to drive farm equipment as well,” she said.
A farm safety specialist agrees a licence shows children understand how to drive, and can be used as a benchmark.
But Glen Blahey said parents ultimately have to decide when their kids are physically and mentally ready to drive on the farm.
“It would be extremely difficult if not impossible to identify a specific age at which an individual can perform a task,” said Blahey, of the Manitoba labor department.
No law on farm
Blahey thinks it’s quite common to see kids under the age of 16 driving farm equipment. While a licence is required to drive on roads, there are no specific laws covering young drivers on a farm.
“Whoever is charged with the responsibility of assigning the task and the care for that child, if they feel that the child is competent, particularly in the farmyard, there’s not much that anyone can say about that,” Blahey said, adding training and supervision are important.
Neabel-Turbett said parents could start training their children around age 14. Supervised small jobs on equipment can help them learn how to use vehicles safely. For example, she used to drive a truck to deliver meals to her father in the field before she had a licence.
She said farmers often think what was acceptable in their youth is OK for their children. But it’s important to remember equipment has evolved.
“You weren’t involved in the big, heavy, fast, very dangerous equipment, so you could do things at a younger age.”
Neabel-Turbett has two young children and wants to gradually get them involved in the family dairy operation.
“They can still be helping out without having to (drive),” she said.
In Manitoba between 1982 and 1992, vehicles were involved in 6.5 percent of farm injuries to girls, and 8.4 percent to boys. Injuries from machines, falling or tripping, and livestock were far more common.
