EMPORIA, Va. — Fed up with accidents and near-misses involving farm machinery on one of Southside Virginia’s busiest roads, farmers in Greensville County are bringing their safety message straight to passing motorists.
The Greensville County Farm Bureau board, backed by its Women’s Leadership Committee, recently installed five oversized safety banners along U.S. Route 58 and U.S. Route 301. The signs are mounted on peanut trailers to maximize visibility, and they carry a simple message: slow down, give farm equipment space, and be patient when sharing the road.
Nick Moody, district field services director for Virginia Farm Bureau Federation, explained the motivation behind the effort. “Greensville County has had a lot of issues with accidents involving farm equipment along 58,” he said. “They wanted to reach drivers passing through, to make them aware of farm equipment in the area. They ordered five large banners from VFB’s print shop to share the message.”
For Greensville County Farm Bureau president Joey Doyle, the campaign hits close to home. A lifelong farmer who raises peanuts, cotton, soybeans, and corn, Doyle has watched both of his sons get struck by vehicles while moving sprayers along Route 58.
“There’s a lot of traffic on 58, especially truck traffic,” Doyle said. “When one son got hit on the sprayer — it was one of two accidents that day.” The two collisions occurred roughly a decade apart, even though the equipment had flashing lights and slow-moving vehicle markings clearly displayed.
“We decided we need to do something to help slow the folks down,” Doyle added. “And we have no plans to take the signs down anytime soon!”
The banners have been placed at both ends of Emporia and at county boundary lines. Doyle noted that the signs have drawn positive feedback from the local community, and Farm Bureau leaders in neighboring North Carolina have also taken notice.
The grassroots effort comes amid growing concern about road safety on the route. Large tractors, sprayers, combines, and other agricultural equipment frequently travel well below posted highway speeds and can span more than a single lane of traffic.
Farm safety advocates recommend that drivers slow down the moment they spot equipment ahead, maintain a safe following distance, stay out of the operator’s blind spots, and only pass when it is both legal and clearly safe to do so.
In most cases, farm machinery is only traveling a short distance between fields — meaning motorists might face just a few extra minutes of delay. For the farmers operating that equipment, those same minutes could be the difference between making it home safely or not.
The section of U.S. 58 between Emporia and Courtland carries a dark history as a “two-lane killer” before the road was widened to four lanes during the 1990s.
“With enough speeding tickets given out over the years, you would think drivers would slow down, but they don’t,” Doyle said. “We’re hoping these signs will remind them to slow down some.”
