Just curious, but do you guys think that people should be required to get a special license/permit to tow a trailer? Even if it is just a simple 10 question test for safety? Or perhaps when you buy a trailer you have to go over a safety check list that includes how to use it, and you & the dealer have to sign the form, and initial all the safety points and you have to keep it in your tow vehicle?
I ask this because I've observed several trailers lately that were obviously unsafe.
WORSE YET . . . I also had my cabinetmaker come to my house to deliver a new cabinet he is making for me and he was showing me his new cargo trailer. It was a thing of beauty, custom built to his specs, with all sorts of great details, added options, etc. As we were walking around and I was inspecting it I saw the electric emergency brake cable was not attached to the hitch ball. I mentioned it to him and he said he didn't know what it was for, or what to do with it! It was simply bound with a rubber band and dangling.
So I explained it to him, unbound it and showed him the loop on the end, explained it needed to go onto the hitchball before he coupled the trailer. I hooked it up for him. Now here is the scary part . . . he has another trailer at his workshop that he has been towing for years . . . and he told me that he had another trailer that broke loose, broke the safety chains and slid off into the median (fortunately without injuring anyone).
I ask this because I've observed several trailers lately that were obviously unsafe.
WORSE YET . . . I also had my cabinetmaker come to my house to deliver a new cabinet he is making for me and he was showing me his new cargo trailer. It was a thing of beauty, custom built to his specs, with all sorts of great details, added options, etc. As we were walking around and I was inspecting it I saw the electric emergency brake cable was not attached to the hitch ball. I mentioned it to him and he said he didn't know what it was for, or what to do with it! It was simply bound with a rubber band and dangling.
So I explained it to him, unbound it and showed him the loop on the end, explained it needed to go onto the hitchball before he coupled the trailer. I hooked it up for him. Now here is the scary part . . . he has another trailer at his workshop that he has been towing for years . . . and he told me that he had another trailer that broke loose, broke the safety chains and slid off into the median (fortunately without injuring anyone).