OTTUMWA, IOWA -- KTVO reported on Wednesday of a deadly accident in Appanoose County involving a vehicle and a piece of farm equipment. The accident left one person dead, and another with minor injuries.
Accidents, like Wednesday’s are not unheard of, but they do not happen that often. But with harvest season in full swing, KTVO wanted to find out what drivers need to know when traveling on those secondary roads.
On Thursday morning, KTVO spoke with Wapello County Sheriff Don Kirkendall. Sheriff Kirkendall wanted to first remind drivers that the speed limit on the county roads is 55 miles-per-hour, unless posted, but that drivers should drive more cautious this time of year.
“You have to be mindful, especially in the spring and in the fall, of farm equipment being on the roads. And now that we are into the harvest season, that equipment can be on the roads in the early morning or into the wee hours of the next morning. Folks need to slow down, drive ahead, and keep looking for those pieces of equipment,” said Sheriff Kirkendall.
Another area of concern that Sheriff Kirkendall brought up was the size of the modern day equipment and how it compares to the small county roads.
“There is a problem with the equipment, the modern day equipment; some of it is very large. And, you look at some of the secondary roads, and that piece of equipment takes up half to three-fourths of that road. A lot of these roads aren’t that wide, and it’s something that people need to be made aware of and pay attention to,” said Sheriff Kirkendall.
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