Trailer hitches are awesome

[KrAzY]

On the way home from work tonight so little car decided it could not stop fast enough and hit me. After the good thump the jeep recivied, I got out to assess the damage. Once the car removed itself from my hitch, I noticed a small scratch on the hitch and a little paint that runeed off on it. The car on the other hand did not fair so well.

The hitch placed a softball size hole through the license plate, through his bumper to the radiator. The front of his hood was also pushed down and bent up some on the drivers side near the windshield. 

How much do you think he will pay to get my hitch repainted? The jeep dealership said no damage was done to my vehicle except for the scrape on the hitch. 

His vehicle on the other hand was roughly $5 grand worth of damage

[sheep_herder ★]

Most folks just avoid the hitches.

[maddmaxx ★]

That'll put a hitch in his stop.

[maddmaxx ★]

Did the same thing once with a Hollywood Racks bike rack.  Gutted the car that hit me.  Bent my rack and they replaced it.

[2Far ★]

You're obviously not driving a Texas modified vehicle yet. Otherwise, the hitch woulda gone thru their windshield. 

[Square Wheels]

My current car has had it's bumper replaced twice.  One guy bumped into it when it was about a year old.  Put two wholes in it from him license plate screws.  He agreed to pay out of pocket, cost home just under a thousand dollars.  Then a year later some driving a work van hit it a little harder, caused a small amount of damage underneath.  That cost Progressive a little over 2 grand.  Plastic bumpers are expensive and unrepairable.

[Longjohn ★]

15 minutes ago, Square Wheels said:

 Plastic bumpers are expensive and unrepairable.

Haven't you heard of duck tape?

[Square Wheels]

Just now, Longjohn said:

Haven't you heard of duck tape?

Do I look like a Texan?

[maddmaxx ★]

1 hour ago, Square Wheels said:

Do I look like a Texan?

No worries.  I can tell when you're coming or going.

[JerrySTL ★]

In Illinois it's illegal to leave the towing hitch ball in place if you aren't towing anything IF it extends more than 4 inches from the rear bumper. If it can't be easily removed, then it must have a bright red cover on it.

There's been a few successful lawsuits won where the person who ran into such a hitch got compensation for the damages. The idea is that they would have actually stopped before hitting the bumper.

[KrAzY]

2 minutes ago, JerrySTL said:

In Illinois it's illegal to leave the towing hitch ball in place if you aren't towing anything IF it extends more than 4 inches from the rear bumper. If it can't be easily removed, then it must have a bright red cover on it.

There's been a few successful lawsuits won where the person who ran into such a hitch got compensation for the damages. The idea is that they would have actually stopped before hitting the bumper.

That's just dumb..

If I remember corectly... the be gainers drivers ed book states you should be able to stop and see the rear tires of the vehicle infront of you. That is a safe spot for pulling up behind a vehicle.. I could be wrong and it could have just been what I was told.

Also pi learnt a long time ago IL drivers are the worst behind Mass-holes! 

[Johnny Come Lately Name]

 

Trailer hitches are awesome

 

.....until you slam your shin into one....

[maddmaxx ★]

I wouldn't know.  All I have is the receiver without the hitch.  It's for bike racks and I have slammed my knee into those.  This reminds me I need to get a trailer hitch for the new car.

[Rumble_Strip ★]

Get the insurance company to replace the hitch. I've been hit twice and the insurance company replaced the hitches because they couldn't be sure how hard the shock was to the bolts.. They told me didn't want the bolts failing when I was pulling a 10,000 pound trailer. Btw, the bolts were bent over so you could not unbolt them.

[Chris...]

When if had a camper I left the hitch on the suburban 

 

[Longjohn ★]

1 hour ago, JerrySTL said:

The idea is that they would have actually stopped before hitting the bumper.

The trailer hitch made sure of that.

[sheep_herder ★]

They are a good step for an old man that wants to get into the bed of pu without lowering the tail gate.  Even when the tail gate is lowered I have to jump to get into the bed.  Other entry way is over the rear wheel, fender, and bed wall.

[Longjohn ★]

1 hour ago, Chris... said:

When if had a camper I left the hitch on the suburban 

 

Why do you have three balls?

[Johnny Come Lately Name]

1 hour ago, maddmaxx said:

I wouldn't know.  All I have is the receiver without the hitch.  

I never have the tow bar in unless I'm using it. In addition to being a shin-breaker, if you leave it in, eventually you won't need the safety pin anymore because it will be so rusted in you couldn't rip it out by chaining the hitch to a tree and driving away at 70MPH.

[BR46]

2 hours ago, JerrySTL said:

In Illinois it's illegal to leave the towing hitch ball in place if you aren't towing anything IF it extends more than 4 inches from the rear bumper. If it can't be easily removed, then it must have a bright red cover on it.

There's been a few successful lawsuits won where the person who ran into such a hitch got compensation for the damages. The idea is that they would have actually stopped before hitting the bumper.

I did not know this 

A few years ago I was driving through Chicago in heavy traffic when traffic came to a stand still long story short is I got rear ended with the towing hitch in. There were witnesses that seen the lady that hit me was texting when she hit me. 

One of the witnesses ask if they should call the police and I said no I have no damage to my truck.