With the warm weather, I know that my family has been outside more often. We have been walking, biking, and taking care of yard work. We will soon start the process of making hay. This is a great opportunity to remind everyone to be careful and mindful about rural roadway safety.

Many of our communities do not have sidewalks, but have narrow roads, with little or no shoulders. These are the roads where our children learn to ride their bikes and walk down to meet up with their friends. Please remember to slow down and move to the opposite side of the road (if it is safe to do so) if you are driving past pedestrians and bicyclists.

This is also the time of year when there is an increase in the amount of farm equipment and machinery traveling the roadway. Even though most equipment is outfitted with lights and slow moving vehicle (SMV) signs, please keep in mind that tractors with implements may need to slow down or make turns into fields. We are not trying to hold you up while traveling; we are trying to operate safely to get back home to our families at the end of the day.

Please help us to keep our children, husbands, parents, siblings, and friends safe while on rural roadways this summer.