Iseki’s Seatbelt Reminder. The display says “Fasten Your Seatbelt.” (Tsukubamirai City, Ibaraki Prefecture)
Ehime, June 17 – Iseki & Co., Ltd. has released, this month, the world’s first tractor equipped with a seatbelt reminder, a system that emits an alarming sound when a driver not wearing seatbelt attempts to drive the vehicle. To ensure drivers’ safety, the farm ministry of Japan is considering making a seatbelt reminder standard equipment on new tractor models to be released after April 2025. The leading Japanese agricultural machinery manufacturing company based in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, decided to introduce it before the mandatory introduction.
All passenger vehicles in Japan must have the device under the Road Trucking Vehicle Act of Japan. The ministry has been discussing making it mandatory for agricultural machinery since fiscal 2021 at its committee for safe farm work. The committee has agreed to include the system in the requirements for the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO) safety checkups for tractors to be released after April 2025.
The world’s first tractor equipped with a seatbelt reminder is the Iseki Bfrex mid-sized tractor. When a driver with no seatbelt starts operating the tractor, the reminder activates an alarming lamp. If the driver attempts to keep driving, it displays the text “Fasten your seatbelt” on the screen at the center of the instrumental panel. Wearing a seatbelt is not yet a legal obligation for agricultural machinery drivers, but “it’s safer for them to wear seatbelts for sure, so we decided to become the first in the industry to introduce it.”
Accidents involving agricultural machinery include rollovers and falling. Also, on public roads, there is a risk of rear-end collisions with other vehicles. According to a 2022 survey by the Japan Agricultural Mechanization Association (JAMA), 21% of tractor drivers wore seatbelts. “It’s essential to wear seatbelts to lower damage in accidents,” the Technology and Extension Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said.