According to a study conducted by British ESB Networks, a company that finances, erects and maintains power transmission lines, farmers using GPS tractors with automatic control are becoming more and more responsible for power outages due to an increasing number of collisions of their agricultural equipment with poles and overhead power lines.

ESB Networks claims to be facing similar problems with both towed equipment and tall machines. In some cases, overhead lines were demolished / damaged, for example, with hay bales on trailers, and in other cases, damage and destruction of the supports were done directly by agricultural machinery.

In the UK, concerns have been expressed that satellite navigation systems that help guide tractors and combine harvesters around fields do not “see” overhead lines and towers, resulting in accidents.

In a recent accident, a farmer from Nottinghamshire, although he avoided serious injuries after his tractor crashed into a pylon using automatic controls, left 1,300 houses without electricity. ESB Networks records a significant number of such incidents. In some cases, this resulted in the victim receiving serious electric shock and burns.

To highlight the potential dangers associated with contact with overhead power lines and poles during the operation of agricultural machinery and other equipment, ESB Networks invests heavily in large-scale media campaigns targeted at key safety messages.