Officer talks road rules with farmers, truckers

The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) held an informational meeting about farm equipment regulations Monday night. The meeting took place in the Washington County ISU Extension Building. Attendees were treated to a meal and then a presentation by Officer Chris Boswell of the DOT?s Motor Vehicle Enforcement division.

Boswell spoke for an hour and a half about all manner of regulations that pertain to trucks and farm implements. One thing he said that was a source of discussion was that all vehicles, including farm implements, must yield half the road to oncoming vehicles. He said this applies on paved and gravel roads alike. Some members of the audience said that was not possible because of the size of modern farm machinery and because some gravel roads are very narrow.

Boswell said the width of gravel roads was an issue for the county supervisors to take up. Nevertheless, the law states that motor vehicle operators must yield half the road. He told the audience that if they take up more than half the road and cause an accident, they will be the ones at fault.

?When you meet someone, you have to yield half the road,? said Boswell. ?There are no exceptions.?

One audience member said his farm implement would hit the road signs in the ditch if he were forced to yield half the road.

Boswell remarked, ?You?d be surprised how much we care about road signs.?

He recommended that implement drivers slow down so they avoid meeting an oncoming car at the same time they meet a sign. He also said that if an oncoming car is approaching a bridge, the implement driver should yield to the oncoming car so the two vehicles do not meet on the bridge.

Boswell told a story about the time his 15-year-old son met a combine on the road. His son had to drive in reverse and back into another lane to avoid getting hit by the combine. Boswell said he had a talk with that combine driver the next day.

The discussion then turned to what drivers need to show officers when they are pulled over. Drivers of commercial vehicles must present a valid driver?s license, a medical card (if applicable to the operation), proof of automobile insurance, and vehicle registration, among other documents. Boswell recommended keeping all documents in a folder in the vehicle. He said he often sees glove boxes filled with vehicle registration cards from prior years.

?I?ll pull someone over and he?ll show me his registration for 2005, 2006 and 2007,? said Boswell. ?I?m tickled pink. If you want to keep the old documents as souvenirs, go right ahead. I want this year?s.?

Boswell also spoke about the circumstances under which a commercial vehicle needs to display DOT numbers. Only drivers who haul for hire or transport interstate need these numbers, which are posted on both sides of the vehicle. The numbers must be displayed in contrasting colors and must be seen from 50 feet away. Boswell said letters that are 1.5 inches tall are satisfactory. He said the numbers need not be painted on but can be taped or. He said that if a driver only rarely crosses state lines, he can stick laminated paper on the side of his truck. Boswell, who helps his father-in-law farm, does exactly that with his truck when he drives it into Missouri.