A writer on RV.net recently quoted a proposed Michigan law that would make it illegal to drive with a trailer hitch (ball) attached when not towing a trailer. The applicable section of the proposed law states
“A person shall not operate a motor vehicle upon a highway with temporary towing devices, including, but not limited to, a ball and hitch, attached to the vehicle unless the motor vehicle is being used for towing purposes.
A person who violates this section is responsible for a civil infraction.”
My first impression was that this is ridiculous, but an on-line check showed the practice was already illegal in a number of states, including MA, VA and PA, unless you can show that you are on the way to get a trailer, or have just dropped one off.
Arguments for prohibiting bumper hitches include the fact that the ball sometimes obscures the license plate, and that the hitches (especially the receiver-type hitches) often cause more damage to the fronts of cars that run into them in rear-end accidents. With a receiver hitch, the first argument doesn’t apply, and as for the guy rear-ending you hurting his car, it’s hard not to think he deserved it. I had big, heavy Ranch Hand brand steel bumpers on our last truck pretty much to protect us from drivers like that.
I only own one pull-behind trailer today and I never take it on the road – just tow it around with the garden tractor for yard work – but we do have a hitch installed on the back of the truck, and I have no intention of removing it.
As one of the replies on RV.net said, “Everyone in Texas has balls.”
I wonder what Michigan lawmakers would think about this:
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