FACTS

1. When most people attempt to hook a trailer to the back of their vehicle, they usually haven’t had any kind of professional training in doing so. The result is hitching a boat, trailer or car in a way that may not have been done correctly.
2. Each year, thousands of people are injured or killed in hitch and towing accidents. The cause is often negligent towing or a faulty hitch. Negligent towing includes vehicle owners who simply didn’t know what they were doing.
3. Often times a vehicle with a trailer is being driven by someone who is inexperienced driving with a trailer and makes a mistake maneuvering the vehicle and cargo in traffic.
4. In a car without a tow hitch receiver, the force of a rear-end collision is distributed through the back bumper and the undercarriage of the vehicle. With a tow hitch in place, a rear-end collision impacts most or all the force of the impact on this protruding metal hitch. There’s no resistance from the fender crumpling. This causes a higher amount of force through the frame increasing the amount of force that affects the driver and passengers.
5. Hitching and towing accidents can happen not only with an inexperienced driver in a station wagon but also with an experienced commercial driver of a semi-truck. Some reasons for this type of accident include:
   

• Excessive speed
• Failure to use safety chains
• Overweight cargo
• Steep declines
• Faulty brakes
• Defective trailer coupler
• Rusted components in trailer hitch
• Road conditions such as potholes
• Unexpected turns
  

STATS

• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that around 50,000 hitch accidents occur every year. About 21,000 injuries were reported as caused by negligent towing or a faulty hitch. In the same year, an additional 450 fatalities were reported. 
• According to the National Safety Commission, approximately 40 % of the vehicles on the road are equipped with a tow hitch receiver, which is part of the towing package that remains bolted onto the rear frame of the vehicle. Having this piece attached to your vehicle actually puts you at increased risk of injury if your vehicle is hit in a rear-end collision. The impact of this increased force can be unexpected and result in the following:

• • Increased risk of severe injury – With a tow hitch in place, occupants of the vehicle have a 22 % higher risk of experiencing severe whiplash when hit from behind and are also at an increased risk of being thrown forward a further distance.