Now that it’s early fall, the roads around Dallas County will soon be filled with an assortment of farm implements. With that in mind, Sheriff Chad Leonard advises motorists to be aware of their surroundings to avoid dangerous collisions.

Leonard says there will be a lot of large, slow-moving vehicles on the roads soon, and in the past that’s resulted in many incidents of vehicles rear-ending each other. Additionally, he says there are still a lot of bicycles on the road that people need to be mindful of, so he encourages drivers to avoid distraction. The biggest distraction is when people are texting while driving, which is now a primary offense for pulling drivers over. Leonard says if drivers would just put their cell phones down, that alone will keep people safe during the harvest season.

Besides distracted driving, Leonard says a common hazard they see around this time is instances of blind intersections. On many gravel roads around the county, the corn is very high and can block a driver’s view of oncoming traffic at intersections. However, Leonard says it’s not that difficult to avoid that type of collision. “You know, it just comes down to common sense. You just gotta slow down and creep your way through those intersections and just pay attention. A lot of times out here on these gravel roads, you can see the dust coming and stuff, but I would never rely on that. I would slow down and creep through those intersections and get where you’re planning to go safely.”

To hear more from Leonard, listen to Thursday’s Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program at RaccoonValleyRadio.com.