WHY leave trailer hitch on !

Status
Not open for further replies.
So if you are driving and you hit a parked car whose fault is it?

Likewise if you are walking and not paying attention and hit a stationary object whose fault is it?

Mine is locked in, but I remove it in winter and leave it in the summer during camping season. It is a 600 dollar weight distribution hitch and weighs right around 60lbs.
 
We had a hitch on my parents old suburban that also would swing on a track for towing campers. A lady rear ended us and the hitch went through the Chevy Cavalier radiator and stopped at the block. Not one scratch on the Suburban.
 
Knee breakers I hate them. Next time I hit one its coming off and going threw the windshield.

I always take mine off when I'm done, in dark parking lots they are brutal.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Originally Posted By: dishdude
It's a hazard walking through a parking lot with these things sticking out. If I hit my shin on one, it's going through the back window.


So you would vandalize someone's property and be willing to take a criminal charge for it because you weren't paying attention?

If you were walking next to a car, not paying attention, and ran into the mirror, would you break that off too? Maybe throw it through the window? Would you like someone doing that to one of your cars? Maybe if someone runs into your mailbox while jogging, they should yank it off the post and send it through one of the windows in your house?


It's reasonable to expect cars to have mirrors sticking out of them at hip level, and mailboxes to be on the side of the road. It's not reasonable to expect something to be sticking out of a bumper one foot off the ground right where someone would stick their foot out if they wanted to trip you. It's a huge liability on the vehicle owner's part if someone falls and injures themself.

You can bet a Personal Injury attorney would be all over that case if there is a broken bone or anything other than soft tissue injury.
 
Originally Posted By: dishdude
It's a hazard walking through a parking lot with these things sticking out. If I hit my shin on one, it's going through the back window.


Such a child. You would really do that? Watch where you actually walk and that wouldn't be an issue.
 
I take them out - I've had them get rusted into place, and that sucks, and I've had them stolen out of the receiver, and that sucks too!

Plus I think it just kind of looks dumb hanging off the back of the truck like that. Especially on the big "mall-crawlers" with their pristine 10" drop aluminum drawbars that don't have a scratch on the ball.
 
Originally Posted By: dishdude
Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Originally Posted By: dishdude
It's a hazard walking through a parking lot with these things sticking out. If I hit my shin on one, it's going through the back window.


So you would vandalize someone's property and be willing to take a criminal charge for it because you weren't paying attention?

If you were walking next to a car, not paying attention, and ran into the mirror, would you break that off too? Maybe throw it through the window? Would you like someone doing that to one of your cars? Maybe if someone runs into your mailbox while jogging, they should yank it off the post and send it through one of the windows in your house?


It's reasonable to expect cars to have mirrors sticking out of them at hip level, and mailboxes to be on the side of the road. It's not reasonable to expect something to be sticking out of a bumper one foot off the ground right where someone would stick their foot out if they wanted to trip you. It's a huge liability on the vehicle owner's part if someone falls and injures themself.

You can bet a Personal Injury attorney would be all over that case if there is a broken bone or anything other than soft tissue injury.

Dishdude, In general I agree with just about all you post on here, but I can't get behind you on this. Stationary object.
If I see a truck it is also reasonable for me to expect something to be hanging out of the hitch and I don't walk behind it.

It might just be me, but I can't understand the logic getting mad about running into a stationary object. I have done it myself, but it is my own fault as I was not aware my surroundings.
 
I'd never sue anybody over it, but it sure as [censored] hurts when you run into it, especially late at night. Another reason I always take mine out - I can't walk into it if it ain't there.
 
I watch out for them because I know they are there, but when you park in a busy mall parking lot you get pedestrians that are elderly, some might have poor eyesight, parents occupied with kids etc...

IMO, It's just inconsiderate and an unnecessary safety hazard. The responsible thing to do is remove it when not in use.
 
Originally Posted By: dishdude
Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Originally Posted By: dishdude
It's a hazard walking through a parking lot with these things sticking out. If I hit my shin on one, it's going through the back window.


So you would vandalize someone's property and be willing to take a criminal charge for it because you weren't paying attention?

If you were walking next to a car, not paying attention, and ran into the mirror, would you break that off too? Maybe throw it through the window? Would you like someone doing that to one of your cars? Maybe if someone runs into your mailbox while jogging, they should yank it off the post and send it through one of the windows in your house?


It's reasonable to expect cars to have mirrors sticking out of them at hip level, and mailboxes to be on the side of the road. It's not reasonable to expect something to be sticking out of a bumper one foot off the ground right where someone would stick their foot out if they wanted to trip you. It's a huge liability on the vehicle owner's part if someone falls and injures themself.

You can bet a Personal Injury attorney would be all over that case if there is a broken bone or anything other than soft tissue injury.


The real liability is walking around without paying attention to where you are going. There are any number of unexpected things you may encounter...watching where you are walking is sort of common sense, I would hope.

Besides, it's not like a ball mount sticks out that far. Anyone walking close enough to run into mine has to be pretty much rubbing up against my truck. To cause any real injury, you'd have to run into it full force. Maybe I'm just used to moving around trucks with hitches or trailers attached, but I haven't even gotten so much as a bruise from a hitch. I have run into them...when not paying attention. It was my fault, I brushed it off, and moved on with life. I have never bumped into the hitch of a truck I wasn't using...ie, someone else's truck in a parking lot. I don't feel a need to be all up on someone else's vehicle.

I do not care what bamberlamps chasers would do, and I'd like to see a case where someone walked into a trailer hitch, sued, and won...if someone carelessly walks into my hitch, they are free to call the police and let them sort it out.

And besides those points, vandalism is just sorry. That's something a [censored] off 13 year old does.
 
These big talkers would just as soon flap their wings and fly to the moon as pull someone's draw bar out and throw it through their windshield.
 
All I can say is if someone walks into my ball mount because they aren't paying attention and then tries to throw it through my window trust me they are going right after it, through the window with my help, if I see it.

That is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard. To vandalize another's vehicle and property because you were careless and not paying attention is a new low for things I have heard on this site. Those saying it really surprise me too.
 
I do wonder if anyone has actually won a settlement from banging their knee on someones ball mount though.

I've banged my shin, knee, and my head once on my own trailer hitch and the thought of suing never came to me. What I did think about is how embarrassing it is because I knew it was there and still was careless enough to "injure" myself on it.

This site is now taking on a whole new "everyone must look out for me" approach, something that was frowned upon in the past where personal responsibility was touted.
 
Originally Posted By: dishdude

It's reasonable to expect cars to have mirrors sticking out of them at hip level, and mailboxes to be on the side of the road. It's not reasonable to expect something to be sticking out of a bumper one foot off the ground right where someone would stick their foot out if they wanted to trip you. It's a huge liability on the vehicle owner's part if someone falls and injures themself.

You can bet a Personal Injury attorney would be all over that case if there is a broken bone or anything other than soft tissue injury.


I have to completely disagree with you on one of those points at least. To me it is perfectly reasonable to expect a vehicle to have a hitch with a ball mount in it. People tow with all kinds of vehicles. Cars, suv's, and trucks. There is nothing rare or unusual about it. If you walk into it you aren't paying attention to what you are doing. They are not hard to see even at night. If you walk into it you are too close to the vehicle and not paying attention. Period and end of story.

As to a law suit. Common sense says you are the one who hurt yourself by your own inattentiveness so you should not be able to sue and win a settlement. The judge should tell you that you are a moron and to watch where you are walking in the future and dismiss the case. However, I would equate it to someone spilling hot coffee on themselves and then suing McDonalds. How that law suit ever went through is beyond me??? Hot coffee is just that HOT. If you spill it on yourself that is your fault. If the server did it that is another story. So if YOU walk into the ball mount deal with it and pay more attention next time.

This is one of the most ridiculous threads I have ever seen here.
 
Last edited:
After reading all these posts, I think I'll take mine out after every time I use it because it seems like a lot of folks are walking into them in parking lots. I think it's important to be considerate to others.
 
Originally Posted By: Silverado12
After reading all these posts, I think I'll take mine out after every time I use it because it seems like a lot of folks are walking into them in parking lots. I think it's important to be considerate to others.


Ok. How about people pay attention where they are going and be considerate of me. It is a paint for me having to take my ball mount out.
 
Originally Posted By: Silverado12
After reading all these posts, I think I'll take mine out after every time I use it because it seems like a lot of folks are walking into them in parking lots. I think it's important to be considerate to others.


While I do think its important to be considerate of others I have to agree with NHHemi. After reading these posts I'm afraid that if I take my mount out I will end up with a busted taillight or scratches across my tailgate.
 
Definitely a few people, are the same ones that would back into somebody's car in a parking lot with a hitch, and say whoops, they shouldn't park that close behind me. Might as well have it hang out there a couple feet, which would really help.
 
Originally Posted By: Traction
Definitely a few people, are the same ones that would back into somebody's car in a parking lot with a hitch, and say whoops, they shouldn't park that close behind me. Might as well have it hang out there a couple feet, which would really help.


And you base that on what?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top