May 5, 2021 – Dodge Co., WI – With the planting season right around the corner in Dodge County, farm vehicles/equipment will be seen a lot more on the roadways. It is important that drivers pay attention and be safe, be patient and share the road with the slow moving farm vehicles.
Drivers need to be cautious when legally passing farm vehicles. While driving down the road you may come across a farm vehicle driving at a slow speed. When you are in a passing zone, ensure that it is safe to pass.
When you are in a no passing zone, it is illegal for drivers to pass even if the farm equipment is driving at a slow rate of speed. You will have to wait until the next passing zone to pass the farm vehicle.
Drivers need to remember to scan the roadway ahead and slow down when approaching a slow moving farm vehicle. It is very important to be more alert during the early morning hours and dusk hours due to farmers going to the fields and leaving the fields. Some may not be as noticeable during those hours.
Next, drivers need to be patient and be cautious when passing. Drivers also need to remember in Wisconsin it is illegal to pass an AG vehicle or an implement of husbandry in a no passing zone. Lastly, when passing farm vehicles consider the possibility of the farm vehicle turning left onto a roadway, driveway or even a field entrance.
346.09: Limitations on overtaking on left or driving on left side of roadway
(3)(a) Except as provided in par. (b), the operator of a vehicle shall not drive on the left side of the center of a roadway on any portion thereof which has been designated a no-passing zone, either by signs or by a yellow unbroken line on the pavement on the right-hand side of and adjacent to the center line of the roadway, provided such signs or lines would be clearly visible to an ordinarily observant person.
(b) The operator of a vehicle may drive on the left side of the center of a roadway on any portion thereof which has been designated a no-passing zone, as described in par. (a), to overtake and pass, with care, any vehicle, except an implement of husbandry or agricultural commercial motor vehicle, traveling at a speed less than half of the applicable speed limit at the place of passing.
