It’s harvest traffic season in Iowa, and KCII News spoke with Washington County Sheriff Jared Schneider about the importance of traffic safety.

This time of year, drivers will notice ag-equipment moving to different fields or grain wagons transporting grain into town.

Sheriff Schneider tells KCII News that drivers in regular vehicles should, “Give the space; be prepared; plan the trip ahead of time, and leave plenty early so if you do come across the slow moving vehicles on the highways, it doesn’t put you in a panic mode because you’re going to be late.”  

Oncoming traffic may be less patient and pull out suddenly to pass the farm equipment directly into your path of travel, so it’s not just the ag-vehicles to look out for.

Those operating equipment should ensure adequate lighting, especially in the evenings, so that other vehicles have more time to react to your movements. The most common cause of accidents is speeding and failing to react to the situation ahead of them in time.