Email  Print

Unsafe tractor on Highway 12

 Editor, Index-Tribune:

This is a warning about dangerous hazards on California State, Sonoma and Napa county roads. Recently, a friend was driving at less than the 50 mph speed limit at night on Highway 12, when he encountered a giant vineyard blower, with no lights, being pulled by a tractor in his lane only a few feet in front of him. Although he swerved, the car glanced off the huge trailer and flipped over.

The trailer had no tail lights, no brake lights and no turn signals as required by law. Neither the tractor nor the trailer had licenses or permits to travel on a state highway, as required by law.

Despite the obvious negligence of the tractor trailer vineyard management operation, fault was assigned to my friend for driving at an unsafe speed for conditions. The unsafe conditions were obviously created by illegal vineyard equipment. The CHP report arrived three weeks after the accident and indicated that the John Deere tractor was pulling this enormous fan fumigator at 50 mph, an impossibility, since John Deer tractors top speed is 30 mph.

Everyone I know drives this stretch of road at night at comparable speeds. I believe law enforcement's job is to enforce the law and protect drivers from illegal hazards.

Ernest Beardsley

El Verano