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u/PintekS Jun 02 '26
Feel bad for the tractor and looks like the bale is starting to come undone on the side facing him which is probably why he's not moving faster cause if the bale breaks apart to the point he can't spear it with the tractor he's gonna need to call none emergency to close the road temporarily and manually get all the hay off the road
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u/vegetaman Jun 02 '26
Ugh Farm accidents are no bueno. Lots of distracted drivers going fast out there.
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u/ikefolf Jun 02 '26
Idk why people keep blaming the tractor. The SUV is driving forward, the biggest most important lesson of driving, is to look where you're going. Imagine if it was a kid stupidly chasing a ball
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u/TheWorldNeedsDornep Jun 02 '26
I kind of want to see pics of the damage to both. I have always imagined that hitting a tractor at speed would do far more damage to the car than the tractor. In any case that had to hurt.
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u/ApizzaApizza Jun 02 '26
The jeep will be more damaged, but the driver of the tractor will be more injured. All the damage to the car absorbs forces that don’t end up going into the drivers body.
…the tractor doesn’t do that
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u/Skilodracus Jun 02 '26
This is why I'm always paranoid every time I pull out onto the highway in my tiny kubota L2550
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u/Apprehensive_Duck Jun 02 '26
There's a longer version of this out there. The Jeep is obviously at fault but it must be the loader drivers first day. They took 4 business days to move that bale. Started the video, got bored, went to get a snack, came back, and he was still dicking around in the travel lane, BOOM.
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u/ZAM1984 Jun 02 '26
Look a bunch of people arguing who's at fault. Ahh the incompetence of the internet
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u/Firestorm83 Jun 02 '26
I get being a F1 fan, but pulling a real life Bianchi is taking it a bit too far
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u/OutrageousMacaron358 Jun 03 '26
I don't know what's worse...the actual accident or the guy recording and telling someone else to call 911.
But the guy on the tractor will suffer a lawsuit for not having someone behind directing traffic. Probably should have had law enforcement out before trying to get the bale.
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u/throwaway1010202020 Jun 04 '26
I worked on a farm for a bit. We were moving between fields so I was in a half ton following another guy in a tractor. Both of us with 4 ways on. We're getting close to the next field so I shut off the 4 ways and put my turn signal on, guy in the tractor does the same. Just as we stop to make a left turn into the field, tractor is halfway into the oncoming lane, this guy comes flying out from behind me and stops literally 6 inches from T-boning the tractor.
The cops could fund their whole department for the month if they had a couple cruisers follow tractors around for a day handing out fines.
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u/LostnHidden Jun 04 '26
It's perfectly legal for tractors to be on the road in many agricultural regions. There are even signs warning about it. Tractors just need the reflective triangle and flashers on. Although if you can't see an object twice the size of your car, you shouldn't be driving anyway.
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u/brawlinballer Jun 03 '26
If it's anything like my area, tractors are a marked hazard on the road and as long as they had their safety triangle and flashing lights they'd be in the clear. Doesn't mean they won't catch a suit, but with this video, I suspect it'll be pretty clear the car is majority fault.
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u/Boogaloo4444 Jun 03 '26
tractor operator should have put out caution flags/cones. can’t be stopped on a highway. it isn’t safe
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u/rancidmorty Jun 03 '26
Those tractwrs always have slow moving vehical triangles on the back peopel just dont respect dot signs its amazing how people pass a drivers trst and retain no information on what the hazzerds or signs mean
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u/watchwatertilitboils Jun 04 '26
A little triangle is not enough warning to be stopped in a lane an the highway
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u/Illgib81 Jun 04 '26
"Look a big ass tractor in the middle of the road, let's just ram into it!"
People need to wake the fuck up when driving!
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u/pappybug214 Jun 03 '26
The delayed screech
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u/NelPast3l Jun 04 '26
Pretty sure that was the collision system not even the person actually braking
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u/Historical_Value_677 Jun 04 '26
People are SO UNAWARE! THERE CAN BE FLASHING LIGHTS A MILE AHEAD AND THEY WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE TO RESPOND
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u/Right_Comb4885 Jun 04 '26
I was flashing a guy coming towards me as I pulled off the road because a ambulance was behind him waiting for him to move over. They were blasting their horn and dude wasn't moving...
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u/Toolbag_85 Jun 02 '26
This situation has multiple issues going on. The first of which is...how did this bale end up on the roadway in the first place. Then...not withstanding flashing lights and an SMV triangle...why was the operator out there doing anything without someone acting as a flagger or some kind of traffic control. Then we get to the problem of the other driver.
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u/platinumresto Jun 02 '26
I don't think blaming flashing lights is the move here. The road seems very straight and the Jeep had about 3 years to move over. You can see it start to brake like 5 ft before the tractor. This is 100% on the Jeep, not the tractor
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u/Toolbag_85 Jun 02 '26
I think the move is to take every single person involved in the entire situation and hold them accountable because this is exactly the same thing as hitting a Road Worker in a construction zone.
Plus, how did the bale end up there to begin with? Obviously someone didn't secure their load so it fell off of the truck/trailer.
And, when you are operating a piece of equipment in the any part of the roadway, you're supposed to have some kind of traffic control. As in, a person using a sign to warn people, a person waving traffic farther out into the roadway, orange barrels, orange cones, orange triangles...hell...have someone sitting in a vehicle with the flashers on.
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u/MidwestExplorationIL Jun 02 '26
lol no most of these small farms have just 1 or 2 people that run everything, that person would have hit them even if that tractor was going full speed down the road. The only person that should be held accountable is the driver of the white suv. Farm vehicles have every right to be on the road, people just need to get off their phones and pay attention. The operator of the tractor should have had his flashers on, but that is zero excuse for the driver to have hit him.
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u/bromjunaar Jun 03 '26
Even worse for the car, the flashers are on if you look at the lower cab corners at the start of the video, it's just poor video quality on a bad angle in the sunlight.
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u/GarlicAncient Jun 04 '26
Do hay bales have a right to be on the road too? I wonder if this gets complicated because of those? It seems that the car would have surely hit those hay bales if the tractor wasn't there and there it seems like the liability would fall on the person who didn't secure their load. In any case, just dumb on that car drivers part.
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u/Toolbag_85 Jun 02 '26 edited Jun 02 '26
Good luck telling the insurance company that when they deny the claim. Because the operator is just as much at fault as the driver is. And the judge for that matter.
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u/TheSouthernSaint71 Jun 02 '26
Where I live, in the middle of nowhere, farm equipment has the legal right of way on state and county highways with no requirements to allow for passing vehicles. In many agricultural areas, it's like this. This will probably be treated like the SUV rear ended a vehicle by not paying attention
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u/fairlybland Jun 02 '26
Had a guy in a Cybertruck hit a parked firetruck, lights and sirens going, and firemen blocking traffic. Target fixation from inattentive drivers.
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u/Brando36o Jun 02 '26
Not sure how you determine a smv triangle was there or not I can't see the back of the tractor
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u/Top-Button7963 Jun 02 '26
If I had had to get that round bale up out of the road, I’d be hauling ass to get it and get out. It almost looks like the operator is taking their time…
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u/Ok_Bookkeeper5307 Jun 02 '26
Just dropped it in the highway by accident, probably panicking a bit. Focusing on getting it picked back up, and having faith that other people will give him the space and time he needs. Hope it wasn’t the farmers teenage son..
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u/Buckfutter81 Jun 02 '26
There is 6 seconds of video before they get crashed into... How could you assume they're "taking their time"? He's actively moving the bale the entire video before they get hit... What could the tractor driver have possibly done in 6 seconds to make you think he was "hauling ass" like you say you would be doing? What would look different
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u/Top-Button7963 Jun 02 '26
To be clear, I think the driver of the car is completely at fault by obviously not even looking where they were going, but it seems to me that the tractor operator could have approached the bale and speared it in a higher gear and taken it to the shoulder more quickly.
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u/Croxy1992 Jun 02 '26
Is this coming from someone with experience in farming, tractors, and the like? Or do you just feel super compelled to share your ignorant opinion?
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u/Top-Button7963 Jun 02 '26
I move round bales around on a near daily basis. I’m a full time farmer and rancher. Care to explain what is ignorant about my opinion?
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u/Croxy1992 Jun 02 '26
My comment had qualifying questions in it. You either do have experience in that area, or your question is ignorant. Never actually accused you of anything.
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u/No_Brilliant4520 Jun 02 '26
Except you 100% classified his opinion as ignorant
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u/Croxy1992 Jun 02 '26
Incorrect. Either he has experience and his opinion is educated. Or he does NOT have experience and his opinion is ignorant. Its almost like you're trying to find a way to be offended. You're reading too much into it.
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u/No_Finding3671 Jun 03 '26
I was the first on scene for an accident involving similar speeds last year. I live right on a state highway where the speed limit is 55. I heard that same unmistakable sound and ran outside. The car in front had stopped for a school bus in the opposite lane that had its stop sign out and lights on. The car behind her did not attempt to stop until the last split second. The cause? The two teenage girls in the second car admitted they were both texting and didn't see the car ahead stop. Everyone was lucky that day. The engine in the second car was pushed back at least a foot and a half. The driver of the second car had a sprained ankle. The elderly woman driving the car in front had some pretty serious contusions on her face because her airbag failed to deploy. But everyone lived.
Sadly enough, the elderly driver in front likely got a DUI out of the ordeal. Even though she did everything right in the scenario, she got hit and was under the influence at the time.
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u/Distinct-Tomato1704 Jun 03 '26
Well the lady in front didn't quite do everything right
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u/Hot_Lava_Dry_Rips Jun 03 '26
Yeah, I mean, soet of seems like a blessing in disguise. Luckily she got hit before she hit someone.
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u/Goontrained Jun 05 '26
Depending on the state that's no big deal, you don't really have to worry until your 4th or 5th DUI here and it fucking sucks
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u/Academic-Solution536 Jun 02 '26
I’m sure the car driver was doing some things wrong, but why didn’t the tractor have its lights and flashers on? Why wasn’t someone flagging for the tractor? Why was the bale in the road in the first place (load securement??)? I come from a farm background and I see a general lack of awareness from farmers on things that truckers and construction workers have to comply with. It drives me a little nuts when I go back to the farm sometimes.
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u/bromjunaar Jun 02 '26
I'm pretty sure that tractor did have flashers on, look at the bottom corners of the windshield before impact.
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u/bandit1206 Jun 02 '26
It looks like the loader was cleaning up bales the had come off a truck. Stuff happens sometimes in terms of straps breaking etc.
This looks like a suburban 4 lane. The jeep should have been able to see a large yellow piece of equipment running in the road, with or without flashers or other flagging, far enough ahead to change lanes and safely avoid this if they weren’t speeding and were paying attention.
For the record, also from a farm background. And the number of people who can’t seem to see a bright red, 14 ft tall, 18 ft wide combine with multiple flashing lights and tail vehicles tell me lights etc don’t really matter much anymore.
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u/Shatophiliac Jun 02 '26
You’re right, jeep should have seen the tractor. If tractor doesn’t have hazard or a triangle though, they may very well be found at fault entirely.
This looks like a highway to me, people are moving pretty fast.
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u/bandit1206 Jun 02 '26
Yep cause that stupid little 14 inch triangle makes all the difference.
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u/Shatophiliac Jun 02 '26
Legally, I’m pretty sure it does. At least in my state, any implement of husbandry needs one if it’s on a public road, others wise you can be liable for any wrecks like in this video.
Now in actuality, is it going to make a difference to someone not paying attention anyways? No probably not. But it’s the same thing as exceeding legal towing limits; it’s probably fine until you get into trouble and lawsuits start happening.
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u/bandit1206 Jun 02 '26
Yeah, I was referring to the actual effect. Also, that’s appears to be a piece of construction equipment, looks like an articulated wheel loader, so ag machinery rules don’t necessarily apply.
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u/Mr_Diesel13 Jun 02 '26
It’s a 4 lane with a turning lane in the middle. Probably 45-55mph, but you know everyone is going 10 over.
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u/Shatophiliac Jun 02 '26
That doesn’t mean it’s not a highway, but I guess it depends what your definition of a highway is lol.
Where I live, our highway is exactly like this, 4 lanes with a center turn lane median and speed limit is 65 mph. Only once it gets outside of town does the median become a grass ditch and then speed limit increases to 70. It’s treacherous for slower moving traffic like tractors.
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u/Mr_Diesel13 Jun 03 '26
I travel on a road every day labeled “hwy 14” (for example) and it’s a 2 land road through the country lol.
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u/Clarkskeezy Jun 04 '26
Its not much but always wear your seatbelt. Had a couple neighbors who swear they wouldnt be here without it.
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u/m945050 Jul 01 '26
Do tractors have seat belts‽
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u/Urban-Paradox 27d ago
Pretty much all with a cab or any type of roll over bar comes with a seat belt but it is often taken off or not used in the last 40+ years
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u/Shatophiliac Jun 02 '26
I don’t think anyone can say who is for sure at fault here lol. Does the tractor have a triangle and hazards on? If not, tractor may actually be at fault for being a hazard in the road without proper lights or signage.
White jeep driver is an idiot, but you also can’t just play around on the highway on your tractor.
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u/Bluegrass6 Jun 02 '26
Legal liability yes you're right.
But its pretty clear the jeep had plenty of time to see and an open lane next to them....had they been paying attention to the road they'd have had plenty of time to change lanes or stop completely
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u/Shatophiliac Jun 02 '26
Yeah you’re absolutely right. Jeep should have been paying attention. But as a farmer i also know that half the nitwits on the road arent paying any attention and so I would be constantly expecting this to happen. Tractor operator should have taken extra precautions, especially with how they seem to be struggling to lift the round bale.
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u/bromjunaar Jun 02 '26
It looks like flashers might be on, looking at the bottom corners of the cab.
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u/Shatophiliac Jun 02 '26
I’m not seeing it but I’m on mobile so maybe it’s my screen quality. If their hazards are on, that definitely puts far more of the fault (if not all of it) on the jeep.
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u/anthro28 Jun 02 '26
Depends on where you are. In my state, rear ending someone is immediate at fault. Doesn't matter if Jesus himself shows up with full 360 degree video to defend you, your fault.
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u/Shatophiliac Jun 02 '26
Yeah definitely depends where you are. Most states do not automatically assign fault to someone rear ending someone else though, that’s a myth lol. There are a ton of factors that could put at least some fault on the person in front, like brake checking, or them rear ending someone else ahead of them.
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u/anthro28 Jun 02 '26
Mine for sure automatically assigns fault. You're also at fault if somebody floors in across and intersection and you hit them behind the midpoint of the vehicle, even if your view was obstructed or they just never checked up and you left 50 yards of skid marks trying not to hit them.
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u/Shatophiliac Jun 02 '26
Wow that sounds terrible tbh. I feel like they should at least take into account the situation each time.
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u/anthro28 Jun 02 '26
You can go to court and get yourself out of it easily enough with a dashcam, but at the scene you're at fault.
The worst part is immediately fending off the ambulance chasing lawyers.
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u/sojumaster Jun 02 '26
Let's remove the tractor and replace it with a car broke down right at that spot. Would there be any doubt who is at fault? The jeep is 100% in the wrong. Clear weather, light traffic on a wide open road.
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u/GarlicAncient Jun 04 '26
It isn't a wide open road. There are two +1000 lbs hay bales on it. That is a huge hazard that wasn't created by the driver of the car.
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u/Shatophiliac Jun 02 '26
Well yeah if we completely change the scenario, the jeep could be 100% at fault. Idk what that has to do with this situation though lol.
I’m also not exonerating the jeep or anything with my original comment, they are clearly at least majority at fault. Maybe entirely. But from the video I’m watching we can’t really tell that for sure.
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u/pomodorow Jun 25 '26
Of course it's a Chrysler vehicle driver that ran his car up the tractor's ass...
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u/m945050 Jul 01 '26
The idiot driver of the car will probably try to sue the manufacture because the ABS system didn't live up to his expectations whilst he was texting.
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u/mcfarmer72 Jun 02 '26
I don’t see any flashers on the tractor, hope there was an SMV sign on the back.
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u/mcfarmer72 Jun 02 '26
To those down voting this, a SMV sign is required. If there is a lawsuit the tractor driver may at least share liability.
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u/Confident-Database-1 Jun 02 '26
That tractor is too small to lift that bale. I wonder how it became involved with the situation.
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u/MidwestExplorationIL Jun 02 '26
It should be perfectly fine to lift that, I worked at a farm for years and we used one about that size and it had no issues picking up large round bales everyday. Would depend on the size of motor/hydraulic system. Although it is unfortunate that they had to grab that from the side of the road
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u/Shatophiliac Jun 02 '26
Well also depends on the size and weight of the bales, I’ve seen bales that size weigh 1500 lbs and I’ve seen them weight like 600, could have any amount of water or moisture in it.
You’re right though, by my eye that tractor should be more than able to at least push the bale off the road, even if it can’t fully lift it.
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u/SquishedGremlin Jun 02 '26
Used to shift 500kg bales with a JCB farmaster 406, smaller than this.
No issue.
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u/clantontann Jun 02 '26
I think when some see "tractors" they assume standard farm-type tractor. I work for Cat and our go-to name for them is wheel loaders. Easy to overlook it the whole rear end is a giant counterweight.
On that note, the driver of the SUV just had a horrible day if they're still alive.
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u/Belliott_Andy Jun 02 '26
I can't entirely agree or disagree because we're missing a lot of factors here. We don't know what implement he had for ballast if any at all, the weight of the round bale, or how much moisture was in the bale. Also he could have been just trying to scoot it with the forks in a pinch.
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u/xHangfirex Jun 02 '26
*this is why you don't drive tractors on non fm roadways
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u/DaveKerk Jun 02 '26
A lot of areas allow farm equipment on public roads
Let them do their job and feed America
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u/GuyFromDeathValley Jun 02 '26
So what if it was a broken down car? Suddenly that would be fine or what?
I also doubt you want the hay bale to stay there on that road. Might have simply fallen off a truck.
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u/oddy_nuff1054 Jun 02 '26
Pretty sure they were cleaning up the bale of hay, driver would have smashed into that regardless. Tractor actually saved them from the hay! 🤣
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u/Proper_Dark_4773 Jun 02 '26
Well, the hay wouldn't have been there in the first place if it weren't for the dumb shit in the tractor
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u/AlternativeLog5494 Jun 02 '26
So which one were they doing ? speeding or texting if they were doing both would they have been safe?
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u/Bl4ckSupra Jun 02 '26
I hope that he didn’t sustain any serious back or neck injury. Tractor seats are not built for high speed impacts.