Why Every Car Should Have A Hitch And Every Driver Should Have A Camera
DRIVING ODDITY #5:
How A Trailer Hitch Saved My Life
Yesterday on my way to work, I was rear-ended while driving with tens of thousands of other drivers during the morning rush-hour on I-65 headed toward downtown Nashville. I was not hurt. And, amazingly, there was NO damage to my vehicle. The other guy's vehicle wasn't so lucky, however.
There are a few lessons I learned from this little incident, like:
Allow me to share them with you now...
So, there I was, in the next-to-the-fastest lane (2nd from the left), and most of the way I had the same big silver-colored monster-SUV behind me.
Most of the way the middle-aged male driver was keeping a fair distance behind me, in preparation for the constant stop & go pattern we were all faced with on this morning.
By stop & go, I mean 60-70 mph for a good mile or two, then down to a drastic 10-15 mph all of a sudden in order to accommodate merging traffic at every major interchange, AND reckless drivers who were eager own the road and get where they were going faster than we were allowing them to go.
Screech, Bang, Crash!
I don't know if Mr. Big SUV Man behind me just took his eyes off the road for a second, or what, but after our 3rd or 4th bout with the stop & go's, he didn't notice fast enough that this time I was really STOPPED, and he subsequently slammed into my backside.
Truth be told, I saw it all happen from my rearview, and I think he literally slammed to a full and complete stop within a MILLIMETER of actually hitting me, only my trailer hitch (that sticks out a good 6 inches from my rear bumper) was pushing into his plastic bumper so fiercely that AFTER he had come to his complete stop, the plastic bumper actually gave way and was instantaneously PIERCED like a bullet by the metal hitch, causing his car to suddenly JOLT forward by the release of pressure -- while surging my vehicle ahead a good foot or so. (Fortunately I had stopped several feet back from the vehicle in front of me, so pushing me 1-2 feet forward did no damage in the front.)
Anyway, the lessons I learned:
1. Run, do not walk, to your nearest auto dealership, U-Haul, or mechanics shop and have a trailer hitch installed on your vehicle! I base this not JUST on my own experience, but on the experience of the ONLY three other people I've discussed this accident with... ALL of them said they had been in similar situations once, where it was trailer hitch that ultimately saved their cars from any damage and only damaged the car that hit them. That's 100% of the people who at this very moment know about my accident! There are no better odds as to the effectiveness of a trailer hitch in rear-end auto accidents, right?!
2. Always carry a camera (disposable, digital, film -- doesn't matter) either on your person or in your vehicle at all times. The first thing I did (after making sure that I didn't pee my pants!) was to use my trembly, shaky hands to take several photographs of the wounded vehicle. I didn't want him coming out of the woodwork months later claiming the damage was a) greater than it was, or b) my fault. Turns out, he's a very nice man who happens to run a very reputable business here in town. (Since I had taken digital photos of the damage to his vehicle, I offered to e-mail him my photos, and I was able to find his company name and website from his e-mail address.)
Driving Pet Peeves
...Now, wanna hear some of my pet peeves about drivers? (Several of which would have prevented today's little "incident".)
UPDATE 8/23/05: Small world... a big honkin' SUV merged into the lane next to me on I-65 this morning, and I noticed it was none other than my friend with the formerly punctured front grille! I'm happy to report that his grille now looks fine... and the vehicle appears good as new!
I've had my 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee since it was new. I was rear ended in it twice within the first couple of years after I bought it (it even has a hitch). I installed a Rhino bumper in the hitch and haven't been rear ended since.
I think I have a better idea; EVERY steering wheel should have a 6 inch chrome spike in the middle of the steering wheel pointing to the driver, instead of a horn button. Everyone would drive MUCH MUCH more carefully.
To be clear, paying an extra 25-30 bucks for the the ball and ballmount is what makes the difference, not just the hitch by itself. My 04 Dakota got hit a couple months ago at about 35 mph by a little Corolla with just the Reese hitch on it. She hit the hitch, which tweaked the frame, and also scratched up and bent my bumper and attatchment brackets. Seems since the front of her car contacted a large area of my bumper and the attatched hitch, the force was spread over a large enough area on my vehicle that she did some damage. Just having the hitch doesn't pretect your vehicle from impact that well. It's having that ball pointing out which distributes the energy of the impact over a tiny spot on the car behind you instead of over a large area on your vehicle which really protects your vehicle. Then when it punctures the bumper usually the ballmount makes contact with a radiator support, a part of their frame, or their bumper reinforcements and stops their car from moving any further before it hits anything other than your hitch.
I used to be afraid to have the ballmount in as I'd forget it's there and hit something. Now I don't give a crap, I got a nice, sturdy Bully ballmount with a 2 inch ball and a 3 inch drop for my Dakota. A friend of mine with an older Ranger told the best story, one day he got hit by a Crown Vic with his ballmount on. The guy crumpled his front bumper and grill and punctured his radiator and then when he backed up to separate the two vehicles it made the damage even worse.
The Flip-Side!!! How a Ball Hitch destroyed my life! My husband and I own a mid-sized SUV and while sitting at a traffic light I was rear-ended by a careless driver driving a large pickup truck. The ball hall hitch being attached to the frame prevented damage to my vehicle however, my body absorbed all the secondary impact.I now experience both short and long term memory loss, my entire left side is numb, my legs constantly drop, not to mention coping with chronic back pain and full body fatigue. I urge anyone having been rearended in a vehicle possessing a Ball Hitch to educate themselves about Whiplash, Vertebrosaliar Insufficency,Fibromialgia and other related disorders. Though you may think you've come out physically unscathed from your accident...more than likely you have not! Symptons sometimes may not appear until months or even years later. Unfortunately, you are now a candidate on a list of portending maladies (including stroke) which there exists little to no compensation nor remedy.
Here's an energy absorbing bumper and trailer hitch combination that will prevent all of this.
Jeff
Last friday I got a hitch intalled to my truck and it is amazing that it has decreased the rate of tailgaters, specially in small cars. it seems to be that there is people that know that if they bump me they will get pierce!!!!
Bumpers are there for a reason - to absorb the energy of an impact. Having a tow hitch to "protect" you is stupid and is a major hazard to everyone else. Sure, they shouldn't rear end you in the first place, but why would you intentionally destroy the front of their car? I have seen hoods and radiators smashed in because of these things.
I've witnessed this happen before. Someone was stopped at a red light and the person behind them didn't stop and ran into their hitch. The car was busted up on the front. But the truch with the hitch was just fine.
I was involved in a rear end collision and my SUV has a tow hitch on it and I had minimal damage to vehicle. Yet I had to have surgery on the arm that was on the wheel. Any research or evidence to the force being placed on occupant?
Thanks for taking the time to reply, Lynette and Jim.
You actually were very helpful. Your (our) situation is not that unusual. In doing some research, I found that individuals have actually installed trailer hitches as a defensive strategy to prevent injury to their vehicles. The rearendee has very little property damage, whereas the rearender has a minimum of bumper damage, depending upon such factors as speed, size of vehicles, angle of impact, and the use of seat belts.
From a physics standpoint, the negative part of this defensive strategy is that the energy that is released from this impact goes directly into the interior of the vehicle, including the physical bodies of its occupants, rather than being absorbed by the bumper and the body of the frame. Conditions that would aggravate physical injury to the occupants are the same as I mentioned above. Therefore, one may suffer from minor damage to the vehicle, yet have significant soft tissue injuries, even if a slow speed impact was involved.
Most insurance companies still come from the standard argument of "no significant body damage to the vehicle, therefore, no real injury to the occupants". It is going to take a major fight to get this perspective to change legally. It always comes down to money!
I am so grateful for chiropractors! Where would we soft tissue injury patients be without them?
Thanks so much, again, for your input. I appreciate your thoughts.
I got an e-mail from Fran yesterday regarding this post. Perhaps it will be helpful to others who find themselves in a similar situation...
"Hi,
I was in a similar accident when we were the "hitchors" struck from the rear by the "hitchee".
We had no damage, but the Honda Accord had a hole the size of the ball on the hitch in its bumper. The two vehicles attached momentarily before they were pulled apart. It was greater damage than what you showed from your situation.
Do you recall how fast you might have been going at the time of impact ...or how expensive the other person's insurance bill was to fix that bumper?
Our person's insurance company is giving us a hard time to recover medical bills because there was no vehicle damage. We were stopped at a light and estimated that the other driver didn't see it as he barreled down the hill at approximately 30 mph.
I'd appreciate any insight that you could share."
My reply...
Hi Fran,
So sorry to hear about your accident...
I'm not sure I can help much, because I don't have any idea how much the gentleman who ran into the rear of my vehicle paid to get his SUV repaired.
We were traveling at a speed of about 10-15mph I would guess... it was during stop & go rush hour traffic on I-65 in Nashville.
No one was hurt.
As a side note, I have been seeing a chiropractor since the accident, but I was also going BEFORE the accident as well. I cannot attribute any aches/pains/misalignments specifically to this accident.
One thing the chiropractor wanted to know was whether I was wearing my seatbelt or not. I was NOT.
There was no other damage than his pierced front bumper.
I hope this information helps you in some small way... I wish you lots of luck with your situation. I know that it can be a tricky situation when there's little or no visible damage.
Lynnette