Tragic accident in Quebec ....

Three young children killed in Quebec, no details as to exactly what happend but they do know that six adults and four kids were riding in the bucket of a front end loader tractor. How many times have all of us done something dangerous but thought, it can't happen to me (or us). Link below about the tragedy, sad day for everyone and I hate to think it could ever happen again but it will.
Tragic Quebec Accident ....

That should read 6 children and 4 adults in the bucket. Some of the survivors are in serious condition.

Have had some adult town friends help pick rock back in the day. Took the compact loader tractor with a flat 3pt carrier on the back. They wanted to sit in the loader and watch for rocks, I said no. If you fall out I run you over and I’d not be happy. If you fall off the 3pt carrier behind me you might get bruised, I can live with that!

Dad gave me one very short bucket ride when I was a little one, it was very brief and controlled. I enjoyed it as I still remember I but really it could be measured in a couple dozen feet of a ride. He had the same thoughts.

Paul

10 people in a bucket must sure have been large one

That's terribly sad.

as the police suspect alcohol must have been involved. dont think anyone in their right mind would fill a bucket with people. its not like riding on the tractor, if you hit a pot hole or what ever you will be thrown out as the jolt is magnified up there. plus with speed who knows. and hardly think that driver had any experience either with a tractor or just plain stupid. very sad.

Gees, 10 people could turn the tractor over, especially if they raised the bucket. I've done that but only with a couple passengers and on level ground.

"Police said it is still unclear why all 10 passengers fell from the bucket and were struck by the tractor at around 7 p.m. local time Wednesday". What TF were they doing riding in a the bucket in the first place?! I'd expect to hear something dumb like that coming from India or the likes.

Jeez Louise!!

Mike

I read about it as well ,extremely tragic and should never have happened. About 20 or so years ago a retired neighbouring farmer in his 60’s rode in a tractor bucket while he had an 8 yr old drive his loader down a dirt road, was the same outcome.

The article says that the tractor was also loaded with wood. If there was a pile of wood in the bucket with ten people, All it would take to get it started is one piece of wood moving to start a chain reaction.

Rusty .... in the paper this morning, it was mentioned that there were a lot of scattered empty beer bottles in a nearby farm yard ..... but nothing linking that to the accident (yet). If it was related, I guess it wouldn't surprise me. The 38-year old tractor driver has been arrested and charged with criminal negligence causing death.

These always-stupid, always-preventable accidents involving kids remind me of a story I had to cover in my previous life as a police-and-sheriff reporter for the local daily paper. A neighbor (a man I had known literally since I was born) in my family's farming community had five kids (yes, FIVE) clinging to a little Allis Chalmers, giving them a really fun ride. Well, fun until 6-year-old Susan fell off and was fatally run over. She had been entrusted to the neighbor's care while her family was on vacation. Now, more than half a century later, when circumstances demand my presence at the old neighborhood's rural cemetery, I still walk past Susan's grave and relive details of that story I had to write.

It's hard to figure how any person could make a conscious decision to do that. Obviously, we don't have the details involved. If on a whim or a spontaneous decision, very short sighted as to safety. Sad that people don't take the time to think it over and recognize the danger. The frequency of accidents like this and so many others today, in modern times, is alarming. It happens very quickly, very little chance to recover once it starts going wrong.

I'm sure many of us have ridden along in one way or another, but it makes me cringe to even consider allowing a rider, let alone people in the front bucket. Sure, I have been raised up in the bucket to get access to trim a branch, change a light bulb or some other darned thing, all the while knowing how dangerous it is. Even with the consideration of what I or a person can do in advance of something going wrong, it just happens too fast.

A flat fendered tractor with a R.O.P.S. is not too unconformable if riding along, I've let a friend well experienced with tractors drive my ford/NH 4630 and done that, at reasonable speed, along the tractor paths and edge of fields, it's not a safe
thing to do by any means. Makes me a hypocrite for sure. I rode the clamshell fender as a kid when cutting hay, or using the rotary mower. Sure I learned the ropes by riding and watching, but I do not think for any good reason I would repeat doing that. I'd rather teach them to run whatever it is and they'd have to be old enough to safely do it, meaning reach the pedals and all things similar. It's a lot better to think, assess and make rationale decisions vs not, it may avoid tragic results.
Personally, I raised up my R.O.P.S. and fasten the seatbelt on the above tractor, "most" most of the time, should be all. When mowing with the rotary, looking down to the left and or the right just the same, without that seatbelt to hold you, it's a clear path to the rolling wheel and of that don't get ya, the rotary cutter will. Thought pattern is to eliminate the threat anytime you can, seatbelt at least, can do that.



Very sad to hear of this, terrible hardship for these families.

Good advice Billy ...... there's probably not one of us that hasn't done something VERY risky at one time or the other and got away with it. And yes, those families will never get over this no matter what. I have heard that sometimes a marriage ends up being sacrificed as a result when a child dies in these ways.

It looks like a vegetable/market farm operation .
The news media kept calling it a scoop instead of a loader bucket .
Most loader buckets gradually seep down and dump . It is possible the riders slid out of the dumping bucket .
Neighbour here had one of his 3yr old twins riding in the Tractor cab with him. He never closed the door as he was backing up to the wagon and had to get out again to drop in the draw pin .
3yr old fell out the open door and was run over with the front tire .
To my amazement it was an open casket funeral . You could barely see the tire tread marks on the childs head under the makeup .

Every time I hear about this, it strikes home, makes you wish you could be there to say, it's unsafe, find another way.
Couple years back it happened to a friend I knew for many years at the local brewery/pub. He was pulling on a stump, small tree or some darned thing with a Farmall, at home. A social friend, knew his wife, they were not married long. I'd frequent this establishment semi regularly, get a nice meal and an enjoyable beer he and his colleagues created and brewed. Over time, he became a master brewer and with the same outfit starting out young. We used to talk about growing hops and all things outdoors, and attend some of the festivals and so on. We lost him over something easily prevented. It's hard for me to go back to this place sometimes, but I still do or did before recent events, as he'd not want any of us to change because he's gone. Lost a distant cousin and a neighbor over the other side of the ridge in accidents, previous was a flip backwards pulling on a small dozer with an N series and the latter was bounced from the seat, run over and through a rotary mower.

In my opinion, when it comes to tractors and equipment; one must always be disciplined in safe practice at all times, take your time, never be in a hurry, and always think things over. It's not to say that anyone, myself included, and or the most seasoned/experienced person won't make a mistake, but the chances are so greatly reduced, it's just not likely if you maintain safety discipline.

I find myself assessing more closely now than ever. Get a little complacent on that side hill embankment while mowing, where you've made it through before many times, but say you did not have the ROPS up or belt fastened that one time, it might just get ya. I think the worst is we get too comfortable over the years and at some point one may not think it out and or recognize what has always been a danger. This is the biggest hazard, don't get complacent and do not take chances for any reason.

I think it's wise to help others learn about safety, in a manner that is not condescending, but instead, practical and productive. Doing so, may just prevent tragic situations like we see all too often, even in these modern times, most are preventable.

was still thinking about this. the driver might have dumped them out by accidentally hitting lever or moving it wrong way. but all speculation.

Everybody seems to have something to say about this.

The only thing I have to say is sorry for the families of the dead and injured. I was not there, so I really do NOT know what REALLY happened. None of the "woulda, shoulda, coulda" from me.

Well we KNOW for sure some idiot was riding around with people in a front end loader bucket.Any loader or forklift class the #1 rule is NEVER carry anyone
in the bucket or on the forks,where I have worked doing either one would be grounds for immediate firing.