0:07 welcome to the lecture on vehicle rules
0:10 let me start by sharing the screen
0:13 and as soon as i get this lecture done
0:14 it will be
0:16 video links here
0:19 underneath the powerpoint that you can
0:28 so like so many things in agriculture
0:29 agriculture
0:31 there are rules and then there are the
0:33 rules for egg so
0:34 so
0:36 i would say all or most of you have a
0:38 driver's license that's
0:40 pretty common and
0:42 and
0:44 so you know about speed limits and how
0:46 to turn and
0:49 uh all kinds of different rules to share
0:51 the road
0:54 but there are exceptions for
0:56 agriculture because the rules
0:58 don't work
1:01 with tractors and other types of
1:03 equipment used in agriculture
1:05 now some things if you have your pickup
1:07 truck and you're on the main road
1:10 regular vehicle rules apply
1:13 if you have a transportation vehicle
1:14 vehicle
1:17 that travels at normal freeway speeds
1:19 etc there's
1:21 most of the rules are the same
1:23 their speed limits etc but
1:27 some of the rules are different so
1:30 california law and federal law actually
1:33 but california law treats farm vehicles
1:35 differently in many ways
1:38 and california law recognizes that there
1:41 are special needs and conditions
1:44 and equipment that apply when we're
1:46 talking about agriculture so it's
1:47 important to know
1:50 some of these special rules
1:53 and ways that you can help protect
1:56 yourself by not only knowing the rules
1:58 but how to appropriately comply with them
2:00 them
2:03 so the first terminology i would like to
2:05 introduce here is
2:09 implements of husbandry
2:12 and husbandry is a special category
2:16 under california law talking about
2:18 farming equipment
2:20 in an old-fashioned terminology
2:22 husbandry is the
2:24 care for and
2:26 and
2:28 management of
2:31 your plants and animals on a farm and
2:32 and [Music]
2:33 [Music]
2:36 so these implements of husbandry
2:38 tractors and other equipment
2:39 equipment needs
2:41 needs
2:44 special consideration
2:45 and we've all
2:47 been there we've all been behind a tractor
2:49 tractor
2:51 but one of the things if you're behind a
2:54 tractor obviously they can't be doing 45
2:56 miles an hour they don't go that fast down
2:58 down
3:00 down the street and
3:02 so they have to have a special triangular
3:04 triangular sign
3:06 sign that
3:06 that
3:10 is the universal sign for a slow moving vehicle
3:11 vehicle
3:12 so if you're approaching a vehicle and
3:15 you see a triangle
3:17 and it seems to be getting closer start
3:20 slowing down now it's probably going
3:23 less than 25 miles an hour maybe a lot
3:25 less so we're going to look at a real
3:30 world example of how things went wrong
3:33 right here in monterey county
3:34 many years ago
3:37 and so there's a tractor driver he's
3:40 towing a disc unit which is a rather large
3:41 large
3:43 implement of husbandry behind the
3:45 tractor which is another implement of
3:49 husbandry a disc is just a device that
3:51 stirs up
3:54 and breaks up the soil
3:55 so the highway
3:58 patrol officer pulls him over
4:00 obviously a highway patrol officer that was
4:01 was
4:05 uh new to the area not familiar with
4:08 the implements of husbandry rules yet
4:12 so he cites the tractor driver gives him
4:15 a ticket and on that ticket he cites him for
4:16 for
4:19 not having a driver's license
4:21 he cites him for
4:23 not having a vehicle registration
4:27 he cites him for driving too slowly
4:30 on the highway or
4:34 road he was on he was on highway one so
4:37 he was considered too slow to be safe
4:41 and also over width there is a width of
4:43 a vehicle that you're allowed to drive
4:46 on a freeway if you're wider than that
4:48 width you either need what's called a
4:50 pilot vehicle
4:52 a car to travel behind you with a light
4:55 and flags and other things to protect
4:57 you might have to put flags on the
5:00 corners of the vehicle etc
5:03 or if you're an implement of husbandry
5:05 you just need flags on the corners that
5:07 are easy to spot red flags hanging off
5:11 the corners as well as the triangle that
5:15 i had indicated earlier
5:18 so the highway patrol officer was wrong
5:22 on every single one of these things now
5:24 maybe there was more going on to the
5:25 story and um
5:26 um
5:29 you know maybe the
5:31 highway patrol officer was
5:38 making an example of somebody who had
5:40 pissed him off i have no idea but the
5:42 bottom line is all of these things he
5:44 was wrong um
5:46 um
5:48 so does
5:56 let me start over
5:58 um we'll go back to implement of
6:01 husbandry under california law which is
6:02 the law we're under when we're talking
6:04 about vehicle rules
6:06 an implement of husbandry is a vehicle
6:09 which is used exclusively in the conduct
6:12 of agricultural operations so just
6:16 because you only use your f-150
6:18 pickup truck for going to ag work
6:20 doesn't make that pickup truck an
6:23 implement of husbandry we're really
6:24 talking about tractors and
6:27 transportation vehicles
6:29 forklifts and things that are
6:34 exclusively used in agriculture so
6:35 so
6:38 uh implements of husbandry includes any
6:40 farm tractors otherwise an implement of
6:44 husbandry used upon a try a highway to
6:47 draw a farm trailer carrying farm produce
6:48 produce
6:52 or to draw any trailer or semi-trailer
6:55 carrying other implements of husbandry
6:58 between farms or from a farm to a
7:01 processing or handling point and
7:05 returning with or without the trailer
7:07 so again if you're
7:09 working on the farm you're
7:10 you're
7:14 moving between farms you're towing a trailer
7:15 trailer
7:18 between farms onto a highway
7:21 or other public roadway
7:24 whether or not you dump off that trailer
7:25 and then you have to return without the
7:28 trailer you're still considered an
7:30 implement of husbandry now this is just
7:31 an excerpt
7:33 a piece of it so there's a lot more
7:35 detail if you get into the
7:38 am i an implement of husbandry or not
7:40 if you're in charge of transportation
7:42 and vehicles you need
7:44 to look into this you need to really
7:47 understand which vehicles
7:50 fall under the category of an implement
7:52 of husbandry and which ones don't
7:54 it's usually pretty obvious but there
7:57 are some cases where it might be a
8:00 little bit blurry
8:02 so what about the no drivers license
8:06 part of that ticket in our story
8:10 in california code under section 12500
8:13 no person shall drive a motor vehicle
8:15 upon a highway
8:18 unless the person then holds a valid
8:20 driver's license
8:22 issued under this code
8:26 except those persons who are expressly exempted
8:27 exempted
8:29 under this code
8:30 all right you have to have a driver's license
8:31 license
8:33 but in 12501
8:36 the following persons are not required
8:38 to obtain a driver's license
8:42 now i skipped a but here we have b
8:44 which is relevant to this class
8:48 any person while driving or operating
8:51 implements of husbandry
8:54 incidentally operated or moved over a
8:57 highway except as provided blah blah blah
8:58 blah
9:00 so what is that
9:04 except is provided 36-300 any person
9:06 while driving or operating an implement
9:09 of husbandry incidentally operated or
9:13 moved over a highway is not required to
9:17 obtain a driver's license
9:19 now incidentally
9:21 is really important here
9:24 i can't take my tractor
9:26 from my farm
9:30 in salinas and just incidentally
9:34 drive it down 101 to my other farm in
9:37 king city if you're going to move it
9:40 longer distances
9:42 you need to put it on a trailer and move
9:43 it properly
9:45 but if you're going from farm to farm
9:47 i'm sure you've all driven behind a
9:50 tractor that's moving from
9:53 ranch block farm block to farm block and
9:55 they have to go on the on the main
10:01 now there are some exceptions you're not
10:05 going to go on to a major freeway
10:07 driving a tractor
10:10 that's just stupid and illegal um
10:12 um
10:14 it must be incidentally
10:17 driven meaning shorter distances how do
10:18 you define that
10:21 if you're in doubt
10:24 talk to the highway patrol talk to the city
10:26 city
10:28 police or the county whatever is in
10:31 charge of the area where you are
10:35 expecting to drive how far is too far
10:38 also which roads are safe and which ones
10:41 are not just because you can maybe
10:43 legally do something doesn't mean it's
10:47 smart or a good idea there's always
10:51 an overarching rule in vehicle
10:53 laws and regulations
10:55 that say
10:57 you have to do things in a safe manner period
10:59 period
11:01 if because of weather conditions or
11:05 unusual road conditions whatever it is
11:08 not safe to do something
11:11 don't do it no matter what exceptions
11:12 there are
11:15 so for example maybe you have to go on a
11:18 road with a very narrow bridge and
11:21 people that are flying by
11:25 um at freeway speeds all day long and
11:27 your implement of husbandry is going to
11:30 take up both lanes of that bridge
11:32 blocking off the bridge
11:34 you might want to rethink
11:36 doing something like that
11:38 you might need to get a
11:41 what's called a lowboy trailer and load
11:43 it up and move it using a vehicle that
11:45 can travel at
11:47 faster speeds you might need to get a
11:51 anyway
11:53 bottom line
11:57 no drivers license needed
11:59 when you're driving an implement of husbandry
12:12 i thought it was on this slide it's not
12:14 let me add one other thing in order to
12:16 be driving an implement of husbandry
12:19 without a driver's license
12:22 you must be traveling at
12:24 under 25 miles an hour
12:28 as soon as you hit 25 and above
12:32 you are considered a regular vehicle on
12:34 the road even if you are in an implement
12:36 of husbandry and you do need a driver's license
12:37 license so
12:39 so
12:41 it's only because this person's driving
12:44 a tractor at slow speeds under 25 miles
12:48 an hour they don't need a license
12:49 but before i move on i want to talk
12:53 about that driver's license for a minute
12:54 does that mean you shouldn't have a
12:56 driver's license no of course not you
12:58 might need to drive other vehicles and
13:01 need to go on the road with
13:03 maybe you ask your
13:06 employee do you have a driver's license
13:08 no i don't
13:10 does that matter
13:12 it might
13:15 and here is why
13:17 it is quite possible
13:18 that the
13:21 uh person
13:25 who is driving the tractor on the road
13:27 has a driving record do you need a
13:30 license to have a driving record
13:33 no not at all if i don't have a license
13:36 and i never had a license and i go out
13:38 partying on a friday night everybody's
13:40 too drunk to drive so i get in the front
13:42 seat and i start driving and i get a ticket
13:43 ticket
13:45 i don't have a license so i get a ticket
13:48 for no license
13:51 maybe i was also drinking now my license
13:55 was revoked or i have a dui and no
13:56 license i never had a license doesn't
13:59 matter i've got a black mark on my
14:02 driving record whether i have
14:05 or i had a license or never had a
14:07 license doesn't matter i got a bad
14:09 driving rate
14:12 fast forward to
14:14 an incident
14:17 you're a company a farming operation
14:20 you don't need a driver's license to
14:22 drive a tractor from
14:24 you know this ranch
14:25 ranch
14:27 to that ranch even though you're going
14:28 to be on
14:31 a public roadway for a couple of miles
14:33 before you get from one ranch to the other
14:37 if somebody has
14:40 a bad driving record
14:44 they shouldn't be driving on that public
14:46 roadway even if they have a license
14:48 doesn't matter
14:51 you still can be liable as a as the
14:54 owner of the ranch if anything happens
15:01 has a license you always want to
15:03 periodically make sure it's valid and
15:06 current if they don't have a license you
15:09 still want to check their driving record
15:11 and make sure their driving records are clean
15:12 clean
15:14 because whenever one of your employees
15:17 goes out on the road your whole company
15:19 is potentially liable
15:20 regardless of whether they need a license
15:22 license but
15:24 but
15:26 assuming everything's fine there's
15:27 nothing bad on the
15:30 on the farm tractor driver's record
15:31 record
15:34 and he's going from one farm and had to
15:36 go up highway one for a couple of miles
15:38 to the next
15:40 the next uh farming block
15:42 he didn't need a license
15:44 he's okay
15:47 what about no vehicle registration
15:49 this one's pretty straightforward
15:51 implements of husbandry which are only
15:54 incidentally operated or moved over a
15:57 highway and implements of husbandry
15:59 listed in section
16:03 36005 or 36015
16:06 are exempt from registration so again
16:07 their details you could look at the lists
16:08 lists
16:11 in the california code
16:13 but if you're in charge of vehicles you
16:14 need to know
16:17 some vehicles need to be registered
16:20 some vehicles do not again it's that key
16:23 word incidentally operated or moved over
16:28 you can't take your tractor and go
16:31 visit grandma in eugene oregon and say
16:33 well i was only incidentally going over
16:37 the highway a couple hundred miles
16:39 doesn't work that way
16:42 but again incidental short distances
16:45 that's exactly what it is for
16:48 driving too slow the driver of any
16:50 implement of husbandry shall possess
16:54 a valid class c driver's license
16:56 when operating a combination of vehicles
16:59 at a speed in excess of 25 miles per
17:01 hour or towing
17:04 any implement of husbandry as specified
17:06 blah blah blah
17:07 again that's where i mentioned earlier
17:10 that 25 mile an hour
17:13 magic number so
17:14 so
17:15 if you're
17:19 driving at 26 miles an hour you need a
17:21 driver's license even if it is
17:23 technically an implement of husbandry
17:24 that you're driving
17:27 uh now very few tractors go 26 miles an
17:29 hour or more they don't they're not
17:32 designed to drive that fast and that's
17:34 pretty slow but still
17:36 if you're driving slowly
17:37 slowly
17:40 again no driver's license needed and
17:42 it's legal to drive slowly as long as
17:45 you do it in a safe manner you go off to
17:47 the side as best as you can you're not
17:50 being stupid and driving a slow-moving
17:53 vehicle and heavy fog
17:55 again you got to use your brain just
17:57 because something is usually
18:02 legal if it's rainy uh dark foggy uh
18:02 uh
18:04 the road you need to travel on is
18:08 especially busy or narrow or whatever
18:10 don't do it
18:12 you still could be held liable
18:15 the over width the total outside width
18:18 of any vehicle or its load shall not
18:22 exceed 102 inches except as otherwise
18:24 specified in this chapter the
18:27 limitations as to width as set forth in
18:28 chapter 2
18:30 commencing with section blah blah blah
18:32 division 15 do not apply to implements
18:35 of husbandry
18:37 with implements of husbandry
18:39 incidentally driven over a public
18:41 roadway or highway
18:45 are exempted from the over with again
18:47 incidentally operated transported towed
18:49 or otherwise moved over a highway
18:52 they're exempted but you still have to
18:54 use your brain
18:57 if you've got four feet of vehicle or
18:59 or
19:01 uh implement
19:03 like a disc or something sticking out
19:06 into the oncoming traffic lane you
19:13 you better transport it a different way but
19:14 but
19:16 in general
19:18 over with is not
19:21 a citable offense so a highway patrol
19:24 officer was wrong because he didn't know
19:26 about the special treatment provided to
19:28 implements of husbandry under the
19:31 vehicle code
19:33 both the tractor and the disc were
19:35 implements of husbandry there was no
19:37 requirement for the operator to have a
19:40 driver's license and in the real story that
19:41 that
19:42 sparked this
19:44 slideshow segment
19:46 there was nothing on the driver's record
19:49 he didn't have some dui or something
19:51 the equipment was incidentally operated
19:53 on a public highway the operator
19:56 traveled up less than 25 miles an hour
19:57 and width
19:59 of the implements of husbandry was not
20:01 limited by law
20:06 case over
20:08 but you still don't want to piss off the officer
20:09 officer
20:11 uh they can
20:13 make life
20:15 miserable for you um
20:17 um
20:20 so stop the sharing for just a moment be
