No need to go back very far in recent news to find them. Accidents involving a tractor are numerous. In the English Channel, a 16-year-old young man seriously injured after his machine fell 8 meters. In Seine-et-Marne, an ambulance driver also affected after a collision on the road. Or, in Aude, a sixty-year-old found dead under his machine.
Would tractors cause more drama than before? Figures from the National Interministerial Road Safety Observatory (ONISR) slightly confirm this. In 2023, law enforcement recorded 249 accidents involving agricultural machinery compared to 233 in 2022. But for example, there were already 233 in 2019, which shows an overall trend towards the status quo.
The fact remains that a collision, or collision, with a tractor is often much more serious. “Mortality is almost four times higher than for all accidents”, writes ONISR in its annual report, indicating that “the months of May to October concentrate 67% of fatal accidents”.
“It’s logical, that’s where we have the most activity, between sowing, harvesting, silage, spreading, etc. We are necessarily on the road more and that increases the risks,” reacts Denis Laizé, president of the Maine-et-Loire Chamber of Agriculture. His department experienced two tragedies in mid-October. A young motorcyclist and a pedestrian died three days apart, both struck by a tractor.
“You almost have to want it to switch”
“I put all possible nuances but for one of the two at least, the driving of the tractor is not a priori in question,” continues the cereal grower. “An accident on the road with a tractor can happen as with a car or any other vehicle. And that can refer to many things: lack of visibility, speed…”
On this last point, agricultural machinery is mostly limited to 40 km/h. With an exception for those traveling empty, authorized to speed up to 60 km/h according to their approval. This often concerns the most recent models, which are increasingly powerful, well-equipped and comfortable.
“The braking systems are much more advanced, driving is much easier with an automatic gearbox. It’s really not difficult to handle,” confirms an Alsatian technician from the John Deere brand, the market leader. He assures him: “A tractor that overturns is very rare now. You almost have to want it to switch. »
Loss of “a certain vigilance”
It depends where and for what activity. Some vines, for example, can be very steep. “It’s especially at the top of the ranks that it’s dangerous,” reacts Sébastien Lignier, a tractor driver at the family estate in Morey-Saint-Denis (Côte d’Or). “In addition, with the new straddlers (raised tractors), we perhaps tend to take more risks because we feel protected. The cabins are reinforced, there are cameras, slope correction to correct the slope. Everything is adapted to make it easier to work but it can cause you to lose some vigilance. We feel less confronted with danger and therefore we are less cautious. »
He also assures us that certain periods can be much more accident-prone than others. “In our job, we are dependent on the weather. We have to work quickly at certain times so this can cause fatigue, careless errors, etc. » Both on the road and in their workplace.
Are we talking about it anymore?
As such, work accidents involving a tractor “are decreasing compared to the number of workers”, reports the Mutualité sociale agricole (MSA), with supporting data. Thus, among agricultural employees, there were 511 in 2023 compared to 540 in 2022. Among non-agricultural employees for whom the MSA provides the protection regime, it counted 379 accidents with tractors in 2023, almost a hundred less than the previous year (470).
“Everyone knows stories of farmers being injured while using a tractor in the field. There are also many other accidents with other equipment. A seeder, a big bag that falls, or someone who gets caught by a machine…” continues Denis Laizé. “But there are no more than before. Maybe it’s because we talk about it more. »
