Tractor Accidents Surge 40% During Belgium’s Harvest

Injury accidents involving agricultural tractors in Belgium rise by more than 40% during the September and October harvest months compared with the annual average, according to a new report from Vias, the country’s road safety institute. The study, published Thursday 24 September 2026, also found that such accidents are on average 3.5 times more likely to be fatal and disproportionately involve very young drivers.

A Predictable Seasonal Spike

On average, around 220 injury accidents a year in Belgium involve an agricultural tractor. Over the past five years, roughly 130 of these accidents occurred each September and another 130 in October, against an average of 90 in the other months — a seasonal increase exceeding 40%.

Vias attributes the pattern to the surge in slow-moving, heavy machinery on public roads during the harvest. “Every year during the harvest season there are more agricultural vehicles on our roads,” the institute noted. “The increased presence raises the risk of accidents, while the weight and construction of these vehicles often make the consequences of the accident serious.”

Why Tractor Crashes Are More Severe

When a tractor is involved in a road accident in Belgium, the risk of a fatal outcome is on average 3.5 times higher than for other road accidents. Between 2021 and 2025, there were an average of nine fatal accidents a year involving an agricultural vehicle.

The severity is driven partly by the machines themselves. The share of tractors sold in the highest power category — over 250 horsepower — has risen from 13% in 2021 to 22.5% in 2024, making them heavier and harder to handle.

According to RTBF, the three main causes of these accidents are loss of control of the vehicle (18%), failure to respect priority rules (16%) and overturning of the vehicle (12%).

A Strikingly Young Driver Profile

One in ten tractor drivers involved in an accident is under 17 years old, and people under 24 account for one victim in three (32%). Belgian law allows young people from the age of 16 to obtain their G permit and drive an agricultural tractor on public roads, with a maximum authorised mass limited to 20 tonnes until age 18.

“Tractor accidents are not necessarily very numerous, but they are more serious than the average accident and often involve a very young public,” said Vias CEO Karin Genoe. “Today’s machines are heavier and more powerful than a few years ago and are also harder to handle, especially for young people with little driving experience.”

Daniel Coulonval, president of the Walloon Federation of Agriculture (FWA), framed the presence of young drivers partly as a symptom of labour shortages in the sector. “We are very attentive to the training and safety of farmers, especially young ones, as well as that of other road users,” he said. “This situation, involving sometimes very young drivers, also reflects the labour shortage problem in the agricultural sector.”

Collision Patterns and Location

Data from 2021 to 2025 show that side collisions are the most common type (31%), followed by rear-end collisions (15%), collisions with an obstacle off the carriageway (12%), frontal collisions (11%) and side-by-side collisions (11%).

The majority of accidents involving agricultural vehicles between 2016 and 2025 occurred outside built-up areas (63%) — the exact inverse of all-vehicle accidents, 63% of which occur inside built-up areas. A 2021 French survey of 400 farmers, cited by Vias, found that 31% use a mobile phone while driving, which could partly explain some accident factors.

As 7sur7 reported, the figures reveal a combination of inexperience and the sheer physical characteristics of modern farm machinery. L’Avenir stressed the shared responsibility of farmers and other road users during the harvest.

What to Watch

Vias is urging all road users to exercise extra caution during the harvest period, advising drivers to slow down near tractors, overtake only with sufficient visibility and be mindful that farm vehicles often lack blind-spot sensors. For cyclists and pedestrians, the institute recommends making eye contact with the driver.

The report also points to a broader pressure point: as machines grow larger and more powerful, and as the sector relies on younger, less experienced drivers, the severity of accidents may continue to rise. Whether policymakers revisit the G permit regime or push for stricter training requirements remains an open question — one that grows more pressing with each harvest season.