DEAR SIR: Following an article in the Irish Farmers Journal on 14 August, Tractor claims reach 10 year high at FBD, I would like to comment through your pages as someone who submitted a thesis after a two year study on farm accidents (so I’m not speaking without proven research) and have been involved in the farming industry all my life. While a large percentage of tractor users adhere to all safety measures while on-farm or on road, there is a small percentage of users (usually not owner drivers) who travel too fast, ignore oncoming traffic while towing heavy/wide loads (over 20t) often while on their phones or filming for social media etc. I also witness on a regular basis tractors travelling with round bale spikes at dangerous levels for oncoming traffic. Like everything else in life, the Pareto principle applies, ie 80% of accidents caused by 20% of users. This misbehaviour can be witnessed on narrow roads in any part of the country on a daily basis. I am quite willing to share extracts of this research with anyone who is interested.

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