Another Urban Legend - Bites The Dust in Illinois

[Greg Meyer]

Okay... I am in Quincy, Illinois visiting family... My B-I-L tells me that as of July 1, 2005 it is now illegal to have a trailer hitch attached (can't leave the slider and ball in the receiver) to your vehicle unless you have a trailer attached. Says people are getting tickets for it right and left. (Says it got passed because the insurance companies are upset about damages caused by trailer hitches) I observe that hardly anyone in this fear struck community has a hitch attached...empty receivers everywhere I look. So, in my quest for the facts I begin to search the "legal" resources on the internet. I can find nothing... Except more of the same... an RV board has a posting about a guy who heard that a guy got a ticket for this "offense". Well, frustrated in my research, can't find the law... I call the Illinois State Police in Pittsfield, Illinois and speak to the Shift Commander (18 yr veteran Sergeant) who says they (The Illinois State Police District Headquarters) get maybe 20-50 calls a day asking the same question... And, he gives them all the same answer... There is no such law... He "believes" the rumor started and then gained traction when a small Southern Illinois weekly newspaper printed an article about the "law" and people supposedly getting tickets. He also says he's willing to pay anybody's ticket if they get one of these because he'd love to know how to stop the rumor. Now, be careful... There is, and always has been a law on the books that prohibits you from "obscuring" your license plate... So, if your hitch blocks the view of your plate from the rear; YOU CAN GET A TICKET FOR HAVING A TRAILER HITCH INSTALLED THAT OBSCURES YOUR PLATE WHEN YOUR TRAILER IS NOT ATTACHED. But, a hitch that sits below the bumper that does not obscure your plate is perfectly legal...

 

[Terry Hutchison]

I like having that hitch out there as a buffer. I've never backed into anybody with it but, I did have a genius run into me in a drive-thru line a while back-His hood had a pretty good dent in it but I couldn't see any damage at all to my hitch.

 

[Jim B]

I dont leave my reciever in for a few reasons. First i dont like hitting it when i walk around the back of the truck, i have in the past whacked me knee off mine pretty hard, not fun..... Second it will NOT offer you any "extra protection" in an accident. If you have a drop hitch and someone hits it it puts a lof of torque on the frame. My last blazer got rear ended with the hitch in and it bent the frame over 4 feet forward from where the hitch bolts to it. It torqed the truck so badly it shattered the back window. I had zero body damage, all frame from a sub 10mph accident. Bumpers are there for a reason and hitches arent bumpers. Thrid from what i am told by a buddy of mine who is a Mass state trooper it is a finable offence to have it in without a trailer in Mass, a non moving violation but fineable none the less. They cannot pull you over for it but they can get you on it if they pull you over for something else like speeding. He told me he has written people up for it in the past when a driver has given him a hard time on a traffic stop. He also told me its illegal in mass to have the trailer light wires dangling without the trailer too. They have to be tied up.

 

[Bruce Freeman]

I like Jim take mine out because I normaly find it with my shin bone (and that hurts)



BF

 

[Barry Loos]

Another case of fiction traveling faster than fact.



Da Bear

 

[Jeff Griffeth]

Greg,



So glad to hear the truth about this. If you remember, I'm from Pittsfield and dad was telling me about it the other day when he was visiting and saw my hitch. I couldn't believe it, but then again, you never know about laws and Illinois............



Jeff

 

[Paul P]

Jim



What did you do with your trailer wire to keep them from dangling?



Thanks



Paul

 

[TritonGlenn]

Years ago, I got pulled over for speeding. It was a speed trap. I was driving down a back country road, and the speed would go from 55 to 45 to 35 and then back up to 55 every time you got to one of a dozen little towns. I was paying close attention too. I got to a point where I was coming into town and didn't see any 45 and 35 signs, and said to my wife - "I better slow down just in case, because its probally a speed trap". Right then, my wife said "hey, there's a cop", as she POINTED to him (he saw her pointing doh!). When he pulled us over, and I argued that the signs weren't there, and told him I was going to go back and check for signs / take pictures of the speed trap, he told me he was going to "let me off with a lesser charge"... and wrote me a ticket for having a "obstructed license plate", as my hitch bar and ball (with florescent orange ball cover - which I miss because it got peoples attention.... I miss that thing... anyone know where I can get another one??? Mine is black now... as I can't find the orange ones... anyway....). I found out later that the "obstructed licence plate" fine in Virginia was more than the 12mph over speeding ticket that I could have got. And it is a "moving violation" (although he told me it wasn't at the time), which required me to show up in court - I HAD to be there - so I got an additional fine for not appearing in court ( I was at sea - Navy - THAT really ticked me off:angry. When I got back home, my wife told me that she tried to pre-pay it as the cop instructed but when she called, they told her that violation required me to be in court.... and the judge from that little Podunk town didn't want to hear that I was "out to sea". So be advised - it may not be against the law in your state to have the tow bar for your hitch in without a trailer, but it could cause you other problems if it blocks your license plate.

All the best,

Glenn

 

[fatrap]

I use my reciever to wrap my chain around. Then I hook it to a car in the desired parking place and powerstoke that turkey otta there. How else is a cripple gonna get a close parking place.

fatrap

 

[Michael Snow]

fatrap, I'm offended at your used of "cripple". They don't like to be called cripples, but rather gimpy old farts.

 

[David Heine]

Check this out dude. I have been rear-ended twice out here in California with my trailer hitch attached to my Silverado. Both times no damage was done to my truck , nor my bumper - at all. Now the first time I was hit, your gonna love this one ; I got rear ended at a D.U.I. check point by a drunk driver !!!! Ya, I was all happy to have the cops there on that one !!! The second time was at a drive thru at Taco Hell and I got rear ended by some guy in a brand new SVS Cadillac !!!! Both times radiator fluid leaking out on the ground, and they both got hosed for driving like crap. So ya, I love my hitch on my truck.

 

[Hans Shull]

I have a 4" lift on my truck and a 8" drop for the ball. I leave mine in and notice that I don't get tailgated much at all anymore. I also notice that people leave a bit of space at stop lights. It looks pretty mean hanging down so low under the bumper and people notice it and stay back.