A semi rear-ended a combine harvester on State Highway 16/60 in the Town of Lowell early Saturday morning, injuring two people and sending one of them to the hospital aboard a Flight for Life helicopter. Emergency crews responded to the crash around 7:33 a.m., according to the Dodge County Sheriff's Office.
The combine harvester was being driven by a 70-year-old man from nearby Reeseville, who suffered serious injuries and was airlifted for treatment, according to FOX6 News Milwaukee. The semi driver, a 25-year-old man from Sharon, suffered only minor injuries and was released from the scene. Both vehicles were traveling east on Highway 16/60 at the time of the collision, which remains under investigation.
The Dodge County Sheriff's Office was assisted at the scene by the Beaver Dam Fire Department, the Dodge County Highway Department, the Dodge County Emergency Response Team, Clyman-Lowell-Reeseville Fire and Rescue, and the Wisconsin State Patrol, per the same account. Flight for Life Wisconsin, which flies critical-care medical transport across southern and central Wisconsin from bases including one at Hartford Municipal Airport in neighboring Washington County, was also called in to help, according to Washington County Insider. That Hartford base was established in late 2022 specifically to speed up emergency air response times across rural eastern and southern Wisconsin.
A Stretch of Highway With a Troubled History
Reeseville sits just south of the crash site, directly adjacent to the Town of Lowell, according to Travelmath — meaning the combine operator was likely moving equipment between fields along a corridor he would have known well. Highway 16/60 has seen its share of serious wrecks in recent years. A May 2024 crash in the adjacent Town of Elba killed four people, and a fatal crash struck at O'Sixteen Road in the Town of Lowell as recently as September 2025, according to CBS 58.
It is not yet known whether the combine was displaying the required Slow-Moving Vehicle emblem or proper lighting at the time of the 7:33 a.m. collision, nor whether speed or visibility played a role. Investigators have not said whether citations or criminal charges will follow once the Dodge County Sheriff's Office and Wisconsin State Patrol complete their review.
What Wisconsin Law Requires on Shared Roads
Under Wisconsin's 2014 Implements of Husbandry law, known as Act 377, farm machinery is legally permitted on public roads but drivers of passenger vehicles and trucks are barred from passing that equipment in designated no-passing zones, according to the State Bar of Wisconsin. Separately, state law requires farm equipment traveling under 25 miles per hour to display a triangular, reflective Slow-Moving Vehicle emblem at the rear, meant to warn approaching drivers of rapidly closing distances on rural roads.
These rules exist because the mismatch between fast highway traffic and slow farm equipment is a persistent hazard. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation recorded 153 crashes involving farm vehicles statewide in 2024 alone, resulting in 65 injuries and one death, figures the agency released ahead of National Farm Safety and Health Week to urge caution during harvest. Over the decade leading up to 2020, the state logged 1,714 such crashes, with 834 injuries and 29 fatalities, according to the Mid-West Farm Report.
Academic research examining crash records across nine Midwestern states found that rear-end collisions like Saturday's account for roughly 23% of all roadway crashes involving agricultural machinery, with 42% of incidents clustering during peak harvest months, according to a study published on PubMed. The pattern underscores why closing-speed collisions between semis and slow-moving combines remain a recurring risk on corridors like Highway 16/60 as harvest season approaches.
Hoodline has previously reported on other serious traffic incidents tied to Dodge County roadways, including a fatal Reeseville-area crash that led to OWI and homicide charges. No charges have been announced in Saturday's collision, and the investigation remains ongoing.
