Drive like it’s 1967, and reap safety on roads

The year was 1967.

American involvement in the Vietnam War was escalating, as were anti-war protests at home.

Three Apollo I astronauts were killed in a launch-pad fire.

Race riots ravaged Detroit.

The world’s first heart transplant was performed in South Africa.

Israel defeated its Arab neighbors in the Six-Day War.

Julia Roberts, Tim McGraw and Nicole Kidman were born.

Spencer Tracy, Vivien Leigh and Carl Sandburg died.

John McCain, a U.S. Navy pilot, was shot down over North Vietnam.

Barack Obama turned 6 years old.

And the Illinois corn harvest was late – exceedingly late.

By the last week in October, only 11 percent of corn had been harvested.

Crop statisticians had to go all the way back to 1967 to find a corn harvest that was later than this year’s, when by the last week of October, only 14 percent had been harvested.

Normally, more than three-fourths of the crop would be harvested by this time, as would five-sixths of the soybeans.

Not this year.

Unfavorable weather delayed planting, slowed growth, held back maturity and dry down, and kept combines out of the fields for weeks.

Now it’s November, and 81 percent of corn and 65 percent of soybeans still have to be harvested, according to calculations released Monday by the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

Because daylight saving time ended Sunday, farmers will be forced to do harvest work well beyond sunset. They will be sharing the roads with drivers who aren’t accustomed to seeing combines, tractors, wagons and grain trucks out this late in the season.

No wonder Secretary of State Jesse White issued a Rural Driving Alert. He’s asking motorists to be extremely careful to avoid crashes during the delayed harvest.

According to the Illinois Farm Bureau, collisions involving farm equipment accounted for nearly 25 percent of farm deaths from July 1, 2008, to June 30, 2009 – not to mention the hazard to motorists in smaller vehicles should they hit massive combines.

The message is clear.

Drive carefully this extended harvest season, be sure your vehicle can be seen at night, and watch out for slow-moving vehicles on rural roads.