I'll give an opposing view point. This will be popular with some ...

To everyone who has said in defense of leaving the hitch in "well don't drive into me then!" ... Are you perfect? You've never dinged into anyone with it while backing up perhaps? The biggest problem with these is in parking lots. You back up a little too far and crunch. But you've never done that. A person pulling into a tight parking spot cannot see that your hitch is sticking out over the line since it is below visible level once you start pulling in and they are trying to squeeze in and looking at their sides back and forth to make sure they hit nobody and then crunch. Not your fault..or is it? Then trying to leave your car, and you have to walk between a couple cars to get out into the lane. Whack on the shins from something no typical person would look for. Still not your fault, right? Not a fan of the nanny state, but if people were responsible and thought of the effect they could have on others, then this would never be a problem. But then that is exactly what you are complaining about with oblivious others running into you. Shoe fits on both feet. An innocent party can easily be damaged by this, and the easy fix it to remove it if you aren't using it. You still have the entire receiver there to help protect the rear end. Now if you use it every day or every other day, I have no beef with leaving it in, but many people I talk to on this who leave them in long term have the same attitude I see here among some folks " up yours! I don't want my vehicle damaged" and actually use it rarely for towing. No respect for anyone else. Hard to complain about the coarsening of society when you are contributing to it, IMHO. Yep it is a pet peeve of mine, and to me, shows a lack of consideration for others around you. I drive respectfully, let people merge in, signal my turns/lane changes and try to contribute to keeping life and traffic flowing smoothly and safely. I expect the flame-o-grams imminently.