WhistlinDiesel Crusades for 14YO Kid Who Drove Tractor to School and Had It Impounded by Police

This is a story that I’ve actually been following for the past couple of weeks. At the beginning of May, famous YouTuber WhistlinDiesel took to social media and talked about a kid who drove his tractor to school. While he was inside, the police arrived and impounded the vehicle.

On May 6th, 14-year-old Braedon Baker sent a DM to the YouTuber in which he said he’d driven his tractor to school. After the hour-long ride, the Braedon parked and was immediately taken to the school’s main office while the vehicle was towed and impounded by the police.

Cody (WD’s real name) was outraged by these events and the fact that a 14-year-old had to pay $350 to get the tractor back. And so he called on his followers to take action. First, he says thousands of people called the police department in Norwich City, New York State.

And after that, the YouTuber said he’d pay $500 for every person who drove a tractor to that school and $200 to people with lawnmowers. Obviously, this blurs what a legitimate protest is, but it got the message across and the school is even saying there is a “tractor day” now.

That’s not even unusual. Because so many kids in Ohio work on nearby farms, they celebrate Drive Your Tractor to School Day. This kind of tradition has existed in rural America for generations. And because this has been happening for so long, parents don’t hesitate to let kids plow their way to school.

But is it legal?

If you live in rural areas, you may often see maintenance vehicles or agricultural equipment on the road. This can be frustrating because they’re slow and difficult to overtake due to their size.

And even though slowing traffic would be illegal in a car, it’s not when tractors are involved. Of course, the legal implications are going to differ on a state-to-state basis. For some, farm vehicle numbers need to be displayed, while most require a hazard triangle ( slow-moving vehicle / SMV sign).

On the one hand, the kid is two years away from being legally allowed to drive a car on the road. On the other, tractors are really slow, and this is probably his best way of getting to school. I think the bottom line is that the police messed with a rural American tradition and got more pushback than they could have ever imagined.

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