Local farmers urge motorists to slow down
With growing season in full swing, expect more equipment on roadways
BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

MILLSTONE - It's that time of the year when slow-moving farm vehicles are prevalent on local roads and farmers are looking for a "brake."

Having to drive farm equipment on streets is one of the most dangerous parts of working in the agricultural industry, according to local farmers.

Jon Pinhas, of Millstone, grows rye straw and hay at his grandparents' farm on Route 526 and rents other farms within a 20-mile radius of that farm. He has to use local roadways to move tractors, plows, discs, grain drills, balers and disc bines, as well as tedders, to flip the straw for drying, hay rakes to help bale, and stacker wagons or hay carts to bring hay and straw to the barn.

"I also combine some of the straw for the seed to plant the next year, and then there are the grain carts for transporting the seed back to the farm," he said.

Pinhas said he tries to move the equipment in off-peak traffic hours as much as possible because some of his equipment takes up more than half of the narrower roads in Millstone. However, almost every time he moves his equipment, he encounters a problem, Pinhas said.

Once, a truck hit a piece of his equipment and damaged it. The truck didn't stop, so Pinhas had to make repairs at his own expense.

Pinhas said vehicles always try to pass his equipment, even when they do not have enough room to do so.

"Then, they cut me off," he said.

Pinhas said stopping a tractor is not as easy as stopping a car.

The worst experience he ever had while driving a piece of equipment occurred last year, when he was on his way to a field near Roosevelt.

"This truck passed me and then hit the brakes," he said. "I had to run off the road so that I did not hit him. I thought that I was going to flip the tractor. The guy thought it was funny."

Pinhas said most motorists do not realize that farm equipment travels at a maximum speed of about 20 mph.

"They come up on you fast and then have to hit their brakes," he said, "and I just hope they can stop in time."

Pinhas also explained that tractors do not have safety equipment to protect those operating the machinery.

"They have no seat belts," he said. "All you have to hold on to is the steering wheel."

Pinhas questions the safety of local roadways because last year his brother was killed in his truck on his way to work.

"It really makes you wonder how safe you are driving on a tractor down the roads," he said.

Chet Halka, who owns Halka Nurseries in Millstone Township, said he thinks most drivers know to slow down and pass farming equipment carefully. However, that does not mean motorists will be considerate, Halka said.

Upper Freehold farmer J. David Holmes said that he could fill a book with past problems that he has had while driving equipment down local roads. His advice to motorists is to give the farm equipment and its operator the same respect and courtesy they would give to horses and their riders.

Despite numerous traffic signs in the area regarding the state law that mandates drivers to slow down to 25 mph when passing horses and their riders, local riders also have problems on the roadways, according to Beth Klein, of Millstone.

To get from her home to the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area with her horse, Klein has to ride nine-tenths of a mile down Agress Road.

"It's a short distance, but it is deadly," she said. "Cars slow down and then speed up when they get to the horse, instead of slowing down around the horse.

"On double-yellow lines," she continued, "they blindly go around the horses, endangering everyone."

Klein once had to flag down a state trooper because a kid in a loud sports car flew past her while she was riding her horse. She has some advice for drivers.

"Bottom line: slow down," she said. "Pass the horses when the rider gives the hand signal to go ahead."

Klein also takes issue with cyclists when they come up quietly behind her horse instead of trying to warn her that they are approaching.

She also said there are no horse-warning signs on Agress Road other than those close to the Assunpink. She said there should also be a horse-crossing sign by the end of Agress Road near the Assunpink.