OY: rear ended the other day, pick-em-up trucks are the greatest! Options

[Sammy]

I got tagged in the rear a couple days ago on the 5 fwy (as if I didn't have enough things to worry about).
Traffic was very heavy, I was going around 10 mph when WAM!
We pulled over to the side and I first say the toyota small car that hit me, darn near totalled. Big hole in the bumper where my hitch went through, bumper smashed in, hood and fenders buckled, windshield cracked etc.

I took a long look at the back of my Toyota tundra pick-em-up, nope, nothing. Not a scratch, dent, ding anywhere. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)
Evidently the trailer hitch and reciever took the whole hit and transfered all the energy to my frame.
I'm gonna get it on a rack to check for frame straightness and alignment, but that's it. I doubt they'll find anything wrong.

Iffn I was in a modern small car It'd be smashed.
Crumple zones my butt, give me a daily driver with a big strong frame behind me (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif)

[Pnambic]

Mueller, no doubt you got screwed. Sorry dude. Do I live in the real world? Last I checked it was. In fact I work for an insurance company....hmmm... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif) Now, technically, everything is attached to the frame in some fashion. Yes bumpers are connected to the frame, but the hitch is even more directly connected and to a very confined spot. The hitch is a lot less able to absorb an impact than a bumper. And the hitch will transfer the energy directly to one point of the frame without distributing it across the rear like a bumper would. You said, "...in fact the truck has more of a chance to have more expensive repairs if the frame gets tweaked which is highly likely" and I agree, but I think the frame is more likely to get tweaked from a hit directly on the hitch than from the bumper. If trailer hitches were such a great alternative, they'd be standard on all vehicles and we wouldn't bother with bumpers. And like Ben said, frames don't generally absorb impacts very well. They tend to pass it on to the occupants.

Bonanno, I'm not arguing responsibility. Do you think the lady that hit Sammy will pay the whole bill of repair for damages to Sammy's truck? NOPE. Should she, yes. But that's not how insurance works.

Insurance works on the big numbers, not the small ones of each person. The insurance companies are getting better at focussing on the individual since better records are kept nowadays, but its all still just a guess at how likely they are going to be in an accident in the future. And each and every state controls what information the insurance companies are allowed to use. It's like pulling teeth to get them to allow you to use new information as they have to worry about discrimination lawsuits and such. My point is, Sammy's insurance rate is going to be affected by the damage done to the lady's car that hit him. So is mine and everyone else's. Not tomorrow, but at renewal time it will. Not by much, as they'll spread it around to everyone else too. But as Sammy isnt the only person to leave the trailer hitch on, there are a lot of instances like this that add up.

Over the years, I know I've paid significantly more in insurance than I've had to cash in on. That's because I have to cover the difference for the people that cost insurance companies far more than they pay in premium. That's the nature of the beast.

Malmz, that pic is SCARY! Does the owner use it to plow his fields? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) That would cut a car in half! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif)

Sammy, I hope that lady didn't hit you on purpose. Who knows, maybe she thought you were cute? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) I define considerate as taking into account the effect of your actions on another person. Acknowledging that your hitch will increase the total cost of an accident regardless of how much is done to your car and how much to the other person's car seems less than idealy considerate. True, you're just trying to protect your property and that comes naturally. I'm just trying to explain that while it seems in your best interest immediately, its more costly in the long run. No doubt that hitting you is certainly less than considerate as well.