Quiz: ‘Slow down’ and take a guess…

The orange “slow moving vehicle” triangle required to be displayed on the back of tractors, mowers and the like when taken on a highway was developed by:

1. Ag engineers at The Ohio State University;
2. the John Deere dealer consortium’s safety committee;
3. or safety experts at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Advance quickly, not slowly, if you answered “1.” Back in the 1950s, Ohio State ag engineers did a study that determined a significant number of fatal tractor accidents were related to slow-moving vehicles on highways. They developed the triangular SMV symbol which now is used on all kinds of slow-moving, wheeled vehicles from sprayers to tractors to Amish buggies. By 1971 most states passed laws requiring their use.