The combines have begun rolling through area fields again in the annual rush to get the major crops — corn and soybeans — harvested.
That also means the increased presence of slow farm vehicles on country roads and highways — not just combines, but trucks and tractors pulling wagons that unwary motorists can come upon way too quickly.
"Rural motorists should be extra careful in the dark. Sharing the road becomes more difficult as the sun goes down," said Eric Vanasdale, senior loss control representative for Country Financial, the top farm insurer in Illinois.
Dusk is when most farm vehicle accidents happen on country roads, he said.
Fortunately, the state is coming off the safest year in the last 35 in terms of farm accident fatalities. According to Country, which monitors farm-related deaths, just 12 people died in farm-related accidents between July 2012 and June 2013 — down from 20 in 2011-12 and 38 the year before that.
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