Thieves love those trailer hitches!

[Bird]

I think the law is called Darwin's law. My guess is it's becoming a bigger issue now with cellphones. So I say we have to punish the victim.

OK.

[chopped]

So if someone stops properly behind you, and then gets rear ended hard enough to knock him into you, you want to be sure and do the maximum amount of damage to an innocent motorist. That's a really nice attitude to have, isn't it?.

good point, also what if the vehicle with the hitch is the one that rear ends or is pushed into someone else .(in the event they become the radiator swallower).lol
Have to say i never consider that either

[timswi]

I see no compelling reason to leave a ball mount on a truck unless you are towing...People in parking lots smack their shins on them and I definitly don't see them as a line of defense...It's lazy and inconsiderate in my opinion.

If the truck only sits on your property until the trailer get's hooked up to it, fine....Riding around with it hanging out there for no good reason is again lazy or for those who like to show they have something to hook to their truck. No other reason.

I've been rear-ended numerous times in rush hour traffic and my OEM hitch defended the truck all by itself. I didn't need to make it worse.

[WilliamBos]

My hitch comes off the moment the trailer is disconnected...Theft and shins are the main reason.

Same here on both counts!!

[Ford850]

I don't like them hanging off the rear of my truck much either. I take them out when I'm done towing for the day. But I sure don't want or need a law saying it is illegal for me to put the hitch in while in the comfort of my garage on a rainy day before driving to pick up my trailer somewhere. Or that it's illegal to drop the trailer and run down the road to grab something with the hitch still on the truck. There are risks for everything we do. And accidents happen. How is this any different than having lumber stacked and hanging 4' off the tail of the truck? That's perfectly legal, but if someone is "bumped" into it, those boards would be through their windshield. That little red flag didn't help. I'm tired of laws for everything, especially those that are not easily enforced. Except maybe we should have a law saying we all need to use common sense and be more responsible in our lives.

[kevin37b]

Here is another 10 pages about nothing . You've got BIRD with his little do right BS , about nothing . Who gives a **** about some dummy that rearends you? Either get off the phone , quit texting , drive attentively , quit tailgating , Ireally don't have any sympathy for these morons ,What in the **** has the hitch got to do with anything .

[timswi]

Here is another 10 pages about nothing . You've got BIRD with his little do right BS , about nothing . Who gives a **** about some dummy that rearends you? Either get off the phone , quit texting , drive attentively , quit tailgating , Ireally don't have any sympathy for these morons ,What in the **** has the hitch got to do with anything .

If you're too lazy to spend 30 seconds taking your hitch out, I just wonder how much effort you put into installing safety chains...That takes minutes..Exponential additional amounts of your valuable time.

Bird is absolutely right on all accounts.

[kevin37b]

Carl ,?

[Kernopelli]

Well, contrary to my original post and in agreement with RandyT(thank you)....the law that I reported did not pass in Illinois. Get online and it is widely reported as being a law. Ask people, including some LEO's and they say it's illegal to leave the hitch in while not towing but it isn't in the 2012 vehicle code and it isn't 625 ilcs 5/12-614. I did bring this up at work today and our power plant maintenance worker said he had been written a ticket for it by an ISP officer several years ago. Stated he had also received a warning for driving with the tail gate down before as well. Easy to find reports online of people claiming to have been cited for it but who knows. Bottom line.....it is not on the books.

UPDATE ON STOLEN HITCH that started this thread: We got the hitch back. Without saying a lot, it came back into our possession. I have the hitch back on the truck and a locking pin is now installed. Lesson learned!

[Bird]

Darryl, such things do happen, unfortunately. When I was a teenager, I heard that it was illegal to drive barefoot, and I later even knew of some officers who believed that, but I don't think there was ever such a law, at least not in Texas. I've heard the rumors about the tailgate being down, too, but never knew of any law prohibiting that. And shortly after I was promoted to lieutenant, one of my officers issued a speeding citation to a young man for speeding on a shopping center parking lot. That officer was not happy when I told he had to go retrieve that citation because, in 1970 at least, officers could not enforce traffic laws on private property.