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NC Wayne
11-07-2004 20:07:08
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This is my opinion, who's in agreement? in reply to Rauville, 11-07-2004 14:29:12
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Ok guys I know I'm gonna stir up a can of worms here but I've got to say it. I know this was a tragic event and I don't mean to downplay that one bit, but the fact that a child was killed is not the point in this story and should not be made such. The point here is that based on the info provided this was no "accident" the tractor operator did something stupid and crashed into a train. For all we know the girl in question was in a safety seat and just happened to be on the side the train hit and the operator simply "got lucky" if you want to call it that. For me knowing that I did something stupid (like running into a train) that got a child killed and then surviving myself to go through life knowing the consequenses of my stupidity wouldn't, in my opinion, be all that lucky. Like many posts say most of us grew up riding on tractors with our parents, grandparents, etc, yet many posts state that they never let their kids ride with them. Let me ask this, if you never road on a tractor growing up where would you have learned the proper skills to operate your machine today??? I'm sure there are some out there somewhere but how many of you are gonna send your kid to learn to drive your tractors on a simulator?? Mine has been riding everything from my mower to our little 440 Deere dozer and when I'm able (meaning no other equipment is gonna be running on or around the job site) I take him to work on heavy equipment with me. Then I ride him on what ever I'm working on when the repairs are complete. He has been riding with me since he was old enough to sit up, and in fact when he was about 2 riding him on the tractor was the one sure way to put him to sleep. If the engine idled down for me to bring him in he woke up and wanted to ride more. He's almost 9 now and I don't have a problem doing hardly anything around him because he's growing up learning what to do around machines. Heck he's even got his very own chain saw, minus the chain of course, that he uses when we're cutting wood. I used to worry when he was around and I was cutting, now I can hear his saw and always know exactly where he is. He's learning to handle a tool properly and having fun doing it. Of course it'll be a long time before he gets a saw with a chain, but the lessons learned will always be there.... The main thing is maintaining PROPER SUPERVISION and being an ADULT about EVERYTHING when he is around. I never do anything with him riding if his presence is gonna limit me controlling the machine properly for what I'm doing. If I'm in an open field no problem, but if I'm having to maneuver alot or control an implement closely then it's time to get off for him. In that case I make him get off and stand at a safe distance, usually against a tree or something easily identifiable, or worst case he has to go in the house. He knows if he moves from the spot I tell him to stand he's gonna get a spanking, he's not get to ride again for a while,or he's gonna have to go inside. Whatever the punishment for not doing what he's told he always has the incentive to stay put. I only had to punish him once or twice before he knew he better than to move from where I told him to stand. That was several years ago and there has never been a problem since although I still watch him close when I'm working. If he should happen to come outside and I'm on a machine he has never come within 100 feet of me until the tractor has completely stopped and I actually acknowledge him and tell him to come closer because he has been Taught What To Do, And In Many Cases Shown The Dangers NOT Just Had It All Explained To Him. We all know true accidents do happen but they can usually be prevented by us being adults and using some common sense. We wouldn't stop riding kids in our cars just because there are alot of them killed in crashes every year, instead we ride them around and eventually teach them to drive behind the wheel....What makes tractors any different? Why not ride them on our machines when it's safe and teach them about the dangers involved and how to be safe around equipment just like we were taught. Telling is never enough, for a kid, they have to be shown. It's the adults that don't use common sense that get theirself or a kid hurt or killed, and the kids that were never properly taught that get their self hurt of killed. The rest of us go on to live long happy lives til some other idiot not using common sense hurts or kills us. Just my .02..... .....
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