A bill that would place the authority of tractor travel enforcement in the hands of a state agency was approved by a Georgia House committee last week and is slated to be voted on by the House chamber Monday.
House Bill 693 by Wayne County’s Steven Meeks was filed on March 1 of this year and quickly soared out of the House Agriculture & Consumer Affairs committee on March 3rd. The bill is also sponsored by Representatives Sam Watson, Robert Dickey, Patty Bentley, and Clay Pirkle.
House Bill 693 seeks to place the determination of the legality and illegality of tractor travel on roadways in the hands of a state agency.
Specifically, the bill:
- defines a farm tractor as “every motor vehicle designed and used primarily as a farm implement, for drawing plows, mowing machines, and other implements of husbandry”
- prohibits farm tractors from being driven on any highway in the state unless deemed necessary by the Department of Public Safety for travel in certain geographic areas of the state;
- requires that operators take reasonable steps to reduce the width of farm tractors while driving;
- requires that state and local highway travel be in compliance with OCGA 40-8-4, which depicts a ‘slow moving vehicle’ emblem;
- exempts trailers and semitrailers from the entire provision
Additionally,
- If the width of a farm tractor is more than a roadway or more than half the width of a roadway without marked lanes, the operator is required to safely move the tractor as far to the right-hand side of the roadway as possible.
- If a farm tractor or implement of husbandry cannot be moved to the far right-hand side of a roadway, drivers of other vehicles must yield the right-of-way to the tractor or implement of husbandry.
You can read the bill in its entirety here.
