The IDEA Publishing
  • HOME
  • Popular IDEAS
    • IDEAS for Your Better Business Life >
      • The Business Idea
      • The Career IDEA
      • The Money Idea
    • IDEAS for Your Better Diversions >
      • The Tech IDEA
      • The Travel IDEA
      • The Auto IDEA
      • The Outdoors IDEA
    • IDEAS for a Better Table >
      • The Food IDEA
      • IDEAS de Cocina Espanola
    • IDEAS for a Better You >
      • The Health IDEA
      • Living Well IDEAS
      • The Fitness IDEA
      • The Beauty IDEA
    • IDEAS for a Happier Home >
      • The Home Idea
      • The Entertaining Idea
      • The Parenting Idea
      • The Senior Living IDEA
      • The Pet IDEA
  • The Video Domain
    • Video IDEAS for Your Better Business Life
  • About
  • Contact
  • ads.txt
the_auto_idea
The Auto IDEA

The Auto IDEA

The Best and Latest News on All Things in the Car Kingdom!

A pre-road trip checklist to avoid towing trauma

7/9/2018

Comments

 
avoid_towing_trauma
Avoid Towing Trauma

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), more than 20,000 people require medical attention every year as a result of crashes involving trailers towed by passenger vehicles. These recreational outings don’t need to go sideways — nor does whatever you may be towing. Here’s a safety checklist to ensure you are towing the right way.


(BPT) - The onset of warmer weather means taking to the outdoors, be it boating, camping or simply tackling big jobs in the backyard. The result is a heavy increase in traffic on the roads — and often tagging along with the extra vehicles are the trailers, boats and campers that can put motorists at risk.
​
In fact, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 20,000 people require medical attention every year as a result of crashes involving trailers towed by passenger vehicles.

These recreational outings don’t need to go sideways — nor does whatever you may be towing. Here’s a safety checklist to ensure you are towing the right way:

Get hitched: A starting point to towing is knowing the pulling capacity of your vehicle, as too much weight can cause a load of problems, no matter how much power your engine has.

When it comes to connecting a trailer to the towing vehicle, a critical component, of course, is the coupler — the part of the hitch system that is attached to the trailer. The coupler needs to be secured, tight and locked.

On the towing vehicle, avoid using a ball mount and hitch that is rusted, cracked, corroded or poorly designed — anything that can compromise its integrity. A safe answer is applying a new hitch, like the Ultra-Tow Complete Tow Kit, which is a durable and easy solution to pull whatever you’re towing.

Bottom line: Always reference the “coupling to tow vehicle” section of your vehicle manual to make sure it is done right.

Feel the (tire) pressure: An often forgotten element on the trailer towing checklist is making sure the trailer’s tire pressure is at the right level. In addition, inspect tires for wear or trauma — and be sure to have a spare.

Be a chain agent: Once you place and pop in the coupler over the ball mount, the next step is applying the safety chains, which need to be rigged to the tow vehicle. Avoid the common mistake of rigging the safety chains to the hitch or ball mount itself. Safety chains are federal law and will keep the trailer from drifting in the event the trailer coupling separates from the ball mount.

Light it up: No matter what you’re driving, communicating with other vehicles is paramount to safety — and that means having properly working brake, tail and turn signal lights. Before departing, sync up the trailer lights with the tow vehicle and test it out so that other motorists will know your actions.

Locked down and loaded: Once everything is hitched, it’s time to load up the cargo. It’s best to be balanced with weight distribution, but put heavier cargo in the front of the trailer. And of course, do not overload.

This pre-departure checklist is only a start. Once on the road, remember the basic safe driving practices when towing a trailer: Drive at moderate speeds, avoid sudden stops, don’t use cruise control and allow more distance for stopping.

No matter how much of a rush you are in to hit the road this summer, don’t take any shortcuts when it comes to towing safely.
​

KEYWORDS

  • accessories×
  • accident×
  • accidents×
  • advice×
  • boat×
  • boats×
  • BPT×
  • Brandpoint Content×
  • car insurance×
  • engine×
  • engines×
  • family×
  • hacks×
  • horsepower×
  • insurance×
  • lifehacks×
  • lights×
  • maintenance×
  • NHTSA×
  • pickups×
  • pulling capacity×
  • recreation×
  • risk×
  • safety×
  • signal×
  • speed×
  • speeding×
  • Summer×
  • tips×
  • tire×
  • tire pressure×
  • tires×
  • tow×
  • towing×
  • trailer×
  • truck×
  • trucks

Comments


    Archives

    December 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    January 2021
    June 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    August 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016


    Interested in Publishing on The Auto Idea?
    Send your query to the Publisher today!

    Categories

    All
    Access
    Accessories
    Accident
    Accidents
    Advice
    Aftermarket
    Air
    Air Conditioning
    Air Pressure
    Antifreeze
    Antique
    App
    Appeaarance
    Applications
    Apps
    Attention
    Attentive Driving
    Attorney
    Auto
    Auto Buying
    Auto Financing
    Auto Insurance
    Automobile
    Auto Parts
    Autos
    Baby
    Bargains
    Battery
    Benefits
    Boat
    Boats
    BPT
    Brakes
    Braking
    Brandpoint
    Brandpoint Content
    Budget
    Bus
    Buyers
    Car
    Car Buying
    Car Care
    Car Crash
    Car Dealer
    Car Insurance
    Car Loan
    Car Repair
    Cars
    Car Sales
    Car Seat
    Car Selling
    Car Shopping
    Car Title
    Car Travel
    Car Trip
    Cause
    Cellphone
    Change
    Child
    Children
    Child Safety
    Chrome
    Cleaning
    Cold
    Commute
    Commuters
    Commuting
    Companies
    Concentration
    Connecttivity
    Consumers
    Convenience
    Cost Of Ownership
    Crime
    Custom
    Customers
    Customize
    Customizers
    Customizing
    Dealer
    Dealerships
    Deductions
    Distracted Driving
    Distractions
    Driver Education
    Drivers
    Driver Safety
    Driving
    Earning
    Economy
    Education
    Educational
    Electronics
    Engine
    Engines
    Entertainment
    Environment
    Exhasy
    Exhaust
    Exterior
    Extrerior
    Family
    Family Features
    Fatal
    Fatalities
    Finance
    Financing
    Fluids
    Focus
    Freezing Temperatures
    Fuel
    Fuel Economy
    Gas
    Gas Mileage
    Gasoline
    Government
    Hackers
    Hacking
    Hacks
    Handling
    Hazards
    Health
    Heat
    Highways
    History
    Holidays
    Horsepower
    Hospital
    Ice
    Income
    Infant
    Information
    Injury
    Innovation
    Insurance
    Interior
    Job
    Kids
    Las Vegas
    Law
    Lawsuit
    Lease
    Leasing
    Leather
    Legal
    Lending
    Lifehacks
    Lighting
    Lights
    Lists
    Lyft
    Maintenance
    Marketing
    Mechanic
    Medical
    Medium
    Mileage
    Money
    Motor Oil
    Moving
    MPG
    National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
    New Car
    News
    NHTSA
    Oil
    Oil Change
    Owner
    Packing
    Pain
    Paint
    Parents
    Parts
    Passengers
    Performance
    Personal Finance
    Phone
    Pickups
    Picture
    Planning
    Plowing
    Policies
    Prevention
    Prices
    Private Party
    Pulling Capacity
    Purchase
    Quiz
    Rain
    Recommendations
    Recreation
    Recycling
    Regulation
    Research
    Ridesharing
    Rims
    Risk
    Road
    Road Conditions
    Roads
    Road Trip
    Rotation
    Safety
    Sales
    Salt
    Salvage
    Savings
    School
    School Bus
    Season
    Seats
    Security
    Sellers
    Shopping
    Sight
    Signal
    Smartphone
    Snow
    Social Media
    Speed
    Speeding
    Spring
    Statistics
    Storage
    Study
    Summer
    Sun
    Survey
    Tax Benefits
    Taxes
    Tech
    Technology
    Teens
    Temperatures
    Texting
    Tips
    Tire
    Tire Pressure
    Tires
    Tire Tread
    Title
    Toddler
    Totaled
    Tow
    Towing
    Traction
    Trailer
    Transaction
    Travel
    Tread
    Trends
    Trip
    Trips
    Truck
    Trucks
    Tune-up
    Uber
    Upgrades
    Upkeep
    Used Cars
    Vacations
    Valuables
    Value
    Vegas
    Vehicle History
    Visibility
    Vision
    Warm
    Warranties
    Wax
    Waxing
    Wear
    Weather
    Wheel
    Wheels
    Windshield Wipers
    Winter
    Winter Driving
    Wiper Blades
    Wipers
    Work






    RSS Feed


Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • HOME
  • Popular IDEAS
    • IDEAS for Your Better Business Life >
      • The Business Idea
      • The Career IDEA
      • The Money Idea
    • IDEAS for Your Better Diversions >
      • The Tech IDEA
      • The Travel IDEA
      • The Auto IDEA
      • The Outdoors IDEA
    • IDEAS for a Better Table >
      • The Food IDEA
      • IDEAS de Cocina Espanola
    • IDEAS for a Better You >
      • The Health IDEA
      • Living Well IDEAS
      • The Fitness IDEA
      • The Beauty IDEA
    • IDEAS for a Happier Home >
      • The Home Idea
      • The Entertaining Idea
      • The Parenting Idea
      • The Senior Living IDEA
      • The Pet IDEA
  • The Video Domain
    • Video IDEAS for Your Better Business Life
  • About
  • Contact
  • ads.txt