Originally Posted By: Traction
Originally Posted By: NHHEMI
Originally Posted By: kschachn
Maybe I missed it in the previous 8 pages of this stupendous thread, but why is it a "perfect example of why people leave them in"? To try and prevent the rear-ending from happening somehow? To protect the car with the hitch? To teach the other person some kind of lesson? I missed why it was a perfect example of why you would leave it in, and what benefit there was.
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
No offense, but this is a perfect example of why people leave them in. Why would she be within 6' of the truck in front? Brake lights or not? And if she was so distracted that she came within 1' of the truck, odds are she would've hit it anyways...
So now its her problem and not the truck drivers problem that she bumped into his truck.
In the case mentioned the damage was only done to the girl's car who was tailgating/not paying attention. The ball mount prevented any damage to the other vehicle that got rear ended.
I don't leave my ball mount in for this reason BUT I have been rear ended a bunch of times( sitting at light/intersection, waiting to enter a rotary, while PARKED! )with the hitch in and it never did any damage to me. The other guy though =
If you are always aware of your surroundings and always watching where you are going, how do you get rear ended a bunch of times. As a defensive motorcycle rider you would always make sure the person behind you has enough room to stop by leaving a few feet in front of you to leave yourself an out, then roll ahead as they come to a stop to leave a little more room. Apparently leaving the ball mount isn't working out so well for preventing accidents. Plus they look like [censored] hanging off the back.
We have now stepped over into the Twilight Zone here folks. It is my fault that I got rear ended? I need to take steps to be defensive against what the guy behind me does now too. WOW! You have to be purposely trying to provoke me. You can not possibly mean this???
This is how you get rear ended through no fault of your own just in case you are serious( and I feel bad for you if you are )...
Example 1 - I start to slow down as I come up to a rotary as I have a yield sign so I have to be sure it is safe for me to enter before I go. bear in mind it is also snowing out so I am going slow anyway. I see a state plow truck coming that is almost at the rotary. Plow trucks have the right of way at all times( law here )so I actually have to stop and give way vs pulling into the rotary in front of it. I had borderline time if it wasn't a plow and it wasn't snowing if I floored it on a normal day. I wouldn't have gone even then. The guy behind me who has been riding my butt runs into me.
We pulled over after going through the rotary at a gas station and he starts yapping at me about stopping at a yield sign. He said he was sure I was going so he goosed it to follow me and get ahead of the plow. He was very agitated and kept blaming me( maybe he was related to you? )even though he was at fault. His grille/radiator/bumper were trashed. I had a scratch in my ball mount.
"HE" called the cops because in his view I was at fault. I explained the plow law and also that a yield means just that = yield to cars with the right of way which I did for the plow. He just kept sputtering away. Cops showed up and not only backed me up but the guy got a ticket. Witnesses and his own words backed up my version.
So NOT my fault and nothing I could do.
Example 2 - I was sitting in a small local mall parking lot while my Sister was inside a salon getting a hair cut. I was parked, legally, facing out( so my rear bumper was towards the space behind me )in a marked parking space. I was actually reading a book when WHAM! My head went forward and I dropped my book I was so startled.
I looked in the RVM and saw an old man in a huge Cadillac backing up. He had pulled into the space and gone too far forward( NO my ball mount was not hanging back into his space )and hit me. The ball mount saved some damage as this was an old boat that was all steel and would have caused some damage I know if he hit me. I actually was afraid it had but nothing ever came of it thankfully. He was tooling it into that space too. Way too fast. His bumper got banged up some from the ball mount.
So how was I to avoid that? I was legally parked and fully in my space. Am I to keep the car running, with it in P, as I scan all around ready to dash out of harms way while waiting for someone?
Example 3 - I was parked at the local ER( facing the sidewalk - one row of spaces with the back at the travel lane ). My Dad had to be taken up by the ambulance with heart issues during the night. After he was stabilized and out of trouble I went outside to my truck to make some calls and let the family know he was in the Hospital. While sitting there a woman in a Prius drove right into the truck as if she was planning on parking in the same spot as me. Right into the back of me.
The spot next to me was open and that is where she actually was going to park but she was yakking away with the person with her and not paying attention. I think she was preoccupied about someone at the ER herself. Whatever the reason I was parked and she tried to park on top of me. Trashed her grille, bumper cover, and even the hood( to a degree ). She also got my bumper as she hit the ball mount at an angle not straight on so I needed a new one. Could have been worse without the ball mount.
Again, nothing I could do. Was I supposed to somehow see her coming and just assume she would try to park where I was and quickly get out of the way?
BTW - last summer at the same ER in almost the exact same spot someone in an suv hit my Sister's car( near passenger's rear wheel and on bumper )as we were getting ready to get out and go in with her. Thankfully the suv was going slow enough and the driver caught it at the last moment and it was just a tap that didn't do any damage to either vehicle.
Your comments are absurd as is your assertion I am not defensive enough in my driving to avoid being rear ended. Just ridiculous. About the only thing I can see to do is stop going anywhere with my Sister who seems to have a HIT my sign that follows her around.
