After too many close calls and crashes involving farm equipment on one of Southside Virginia’s busiest highways, Greensville County farmers are taking their safety message directly to motorists.
The board, with support from its , recently placed a series of five large safety banners along U.S. Route 58 and U.S. Route 301. Mounted on peanut trailers for high visibility, the signs ask drivers to slow down, give farm equipment room and be patient when sharing public roads.
“Greensville County has had a lot of issues with accidents involving farm equipment along 58,” said Nick Moody, district field services director for . “They wanted to reach drivers passing through, to make them aware of farm equipment in the area. They ordered five large banners from VFB’s print shop to share the message.”
The campaign is personal for Greensville County Farm Bureau president Joey Doyle, a lifelong farmer who grows peanuts, cotton, soybeans and corn. Both of his sons have been hit while moving sprayers along Route 58.
“There’s a lot of traffic on 58, especially truck traffic,” Doyle said. “When one son got hit on the sprayer—it was one of two accidents that day.”
The crashes happened about a decade apart, despite flashing lights and slow-moving vehicle markings being in place.
“We decided we need to do something to help slow the folks down,” he continued. “And we have no plans to take the signs down anytime soon!”
The banners are posted at both sides of Emporia and county lines. Doyle said the signs have generated positive comments locally, and neighboring Farm Bureau leaders in North Carolina have taken notice.
The farmer-led effort follows heightened concern about safety along the route. Large tractors, sprayers, combines and other equipment often travel far below highway speeds, and can be wider than a single lane.
urge motorists to slow down as soon as they see equipment ahead, leave plenty of stopping distance, avoid crowding the operator’s blind spots and pass only when it is legal and clearly safe.
Most farm equipment is traveling only a short distance between fields. For drivers, that may mean waiting a few extra minutes. For farmers, it can mean getting home safely.
The stretch of U.S. 58 between Emporia and Courtland has a as a “two-lane killer” before four-lane expansion in the 1990s.
“With enough speeding tickets given out over the years, you would think drivers would slow down, but they don’t,” Doyle said. “We’re hoping these signs will remind them to slow down some.”
