We’ve all seen videos of people pondering their mortality, considering running underneath a sprayer or similar piece of farm equipment in their vehicle. And, while it’s understandable that — much like the urge to jump off of high places — this may just be one of those relatively common psychological phenomena, the answer is simple when the thought crosses your mind: DON’T DO IT.
Needless to say, when we stumbled across a recent r/WTF moment, it made us hold our breath. “Finally…someone did it!” reads the post. Well, cool — and they didn’t die. But someone eventually will if they keep trying it. It might be the driver, it might be the farmer, and it might be other innocent motor vehicle operators.
Aside from a John Deere 410R Sprayer’s 33,197-pound weight, the engine operates on a max of 330 horsepower. Subcompact cars will likely run on 147 horsepower, weighing a measly 2,600 pounds.
Size is only part of the danger, however. Farmers driving sprayers like this one may be hauling chemicals that pose fire hazards.
Not to mention, stats revolving around roadway accidents involving farm equipment are staggering. The percentage of fatalities in farm vehicle crashes on U.S. public roadways is nearly five times higher than the average for all road crashes. Meanwhile, according to the National Farm Medicine Center, farm equipment crashes contributed to 15 percent of all farm deaths in 2019.
If ending your own life, or someone else’s, isn’t enough to make one stop and consider the impacts that one wrong swerve of the wheel could have, the cost of a new spray rig run can run over $500,000 — imagine explaining that to your insurance company.
While the video’s location was not clear, one user posted that the drivers appeared to be speaking Romanian.
Thankfully, amid some of the Darwin Award-qualifying comments, there are a few voices of reason.
One user commented, “Best case scenario: your TikTok friends give you 13 likes.
Slightly worse than best: you destroy a piece of farming equipment worth hundreds of thousands, your car insurance tells you to fuck off, and you get sued into financial insolvency.
Worst case scenario: you fucking die.”
Another user posted, “It’s always good to make sure there’s oncoming traffic before you pull a dangerous stunt.”
If all of that’s not enough of an argument, just know that your vehicle may not fit, like this social media poster found out.
Everyone is in a hurry and wants to get home. But so do farmers, whose jobs are already dangerous enough without daredevil stunts endangering everyone on the roadway.
If you come across a sprayer like this, deny any urges you might have, drive at a safe distance, and pass (in a legal passing area) when it’s safe. Don’t pass recklessly on blind curves; for the love of all that’s good in this world, don’t ever drive underneath farm equipment.
»Related: Tips for harvest season safety on roads
