UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- County offices of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau and Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences are collaborating on a campaign to encourage farmers to install improved reflective material on agricultural equipment that operates on public roadways.
The Women's Committees of county bureau offices are starting a new program during July called Fewer Accidents with Reflective Material, or FARM. The program provides highly visible retroreflective marking materials and high performance fluorescent markings for tractors and implements.
The improved materials meet the newly revised safety standard of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers.
Under the previous ASAE standard, fluorescent material had to have no discoloration or cracking after a year of exposure to the south Florida sun. The new standard has increased that standard to two years.
"Fluorescent material aids daytime visibility," says Dennis Murphy, professor of agricultural engineering. "But fluorescent materials don't last forever. Fluorescent dyes decompose from light and moisture and the colors will fade over time. The material's ability to reflect light also will lessen as the material decomposes.
"Retroreflective material reflects the headlights of oncoming vehicles at night," Murphy explains. "Retroreflective material holds up much longer than fluorescent markings. However, the new retroreflective markings are nearly 10 times brighter for nighttime visibility than markings currently in use. The new materials can be seen from a mile away, compared to a few hundred feet for the earlier signs."
The program offers three different types of kits at reduced cost: a regular kit at $11.50, an extremity kit for equipment with extended booms or other wide attachments at $8.65, and a buggy kit at $17.35. The program also offers three types of leg wraps for horses starting at $13.25. Contact your county farm bureau or county office of Penn State Cooperative Extension for ordering information.
The improved fluorescent and retroreflective materials used in the kits have a useful life of seven to 10 years. "Farmers are traveling a greater distance on highways than in the past," Murphy says. "Large equipment may extend into the oncoming traffic lane as well. When the trucking industry converted to the new materials, the industry's accident rate fell by 31 percent."
Murphy, an agricultural safety and health expert, says accidents involving automobiles and farm tractors and implements are one of the greatest hazards for farm workers. In Pennsylvania in 1996, 180 people were injured and seven individuals were killed in 183 collisions.
Murphy says safety experts estimate some 12 million slow-moving vehicle signs have been sold since the emblem was introduced in 1963. Laws in 41 states require its use on equipment traveling less than 25 miles per hour.
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EDITORS: For more information, contact Dennis Murphy at 814-863-7157.
Contacts: John Wall jtw3@psu.edu 814-863-2719 814-865-1068 fax