About Farm Tractor Accident Lawsuits - General Legal Information You Should Know

Every year, thousands of farmers are injured, severely mangled, or even killed in agriculture accidents involving farm equipment. In many cases, the accident was preventable.

A significant percentage of farm accidents and fatalities involve tractors. In fact, they are the leading cause of injury and death on a farm- yet they are essential to the farm. Tractors can rollover, killing the passenger or passengers. There are two kinds of tractor rollovers- a rear rollover and a side rollover. A rear tractor rollover happens when the tractor overturns backwards. This can happen on steep inclines, or if hitching equipment was poorly installed. A rear rollover can occur in 1.5 seconds. A side tractor rollover only takes 0.75 seconds to occur. Sideways rollovers occur if driving too close to a ditch, or if the tractor takes a turn too quickly, or even just hitting a rock or hole at the wrong angle.

Tractor rollovers can occur even under normal operating conditions. Investigations reveal that these tragic tractor deaths could have been prevented if the tractor was equipped with a rollover protective structure (ROPS) and seatbelts. ROPS are safety roll bars or cages which form a protective cage around the farmer when the tractor rolls; when used in conjunction with a seatbelt, the safety protection from a rollover is increased. Although new tractors are equipped with these safety devices, there is always the chance they are improperly installed or defective; or on older tractors, the seatbelts and ROPS may be improperly retrofitted.

Another cause of tractor-related deaths involve incidents where people are run over by tractors. In some of those cases, this was proceeded by a fall from the tractor. Again, the fall could have been prevented if seatbelts or ROPS were installed.

The exposed, rotating machinery parts of a tractor are also dangerous to farmers. On some tractors, an auger is attached to the tractor and powered by a short drive shaft. However, the connection is exposed and some unsuspecting farmers or helpers have gotten caught or severely injured in the machinery.

Tractors with attached parts often powered by power take-offs (PTO). The PTO continues to operate as long as the engine is running. Many farmers have been injured or killed when they have stopped the tractor and climbed off in order to attempt to fix attachments. Sometimes, a bolt of just a of inch in length is enough to snag on a pieces of clothing, leading to entanglement in the moving parts.

Manufacturers have started including more detailed and explicit warnings, or installing shields or guards on tractors. However, older equipment do not have the warning stickers. There are still many farms operating with the older, unguarded tractors. The lack of these safety precautions can be the basis of a lawsuit against the negligent farm machine manufacturer.