With seeding activity underway, motorists are being reminded to slow down when approaching farm machinery on the road.

Glen Blahey is agricultural safety and health specialist with the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association. He says the size of the equipment and the speed that vehicles are travelling are the two most significant factors that come into play when it comes to farm equipment motor vehicle collisions roads and highways.

"On a national basis, the majority of collisions between automobiles and tractors and other trail equipment occur during three peak months in the year; May, June and July."

Blahey says motorists need to be aware of warning lights, slow moving vehicle signs and recognize the rate of closure when coming upon farm equipment on public roadways.

"They certainly need to recognize that the operator of that equipment may not necessarily see them coming up from behind, so motorists have a major obligation of slowing down and anticipating whether that piece of equipment is going to be making a left-hand turn or not. There are a significant number of collisions that occur where the operator of the farm equipment initiates a left-hand turn and the motor vehicle behind them overtakes it just before they initiate that turn. That's when we often see a collision."

Blahey says farm equipment can quite often obstruct the view of motorists, which is why they need to slow down and assess the traffic situation to ensure lives are not put in jeopardy.