Flying tow ball video sets off alarm bells

COMMENT

Recent dashcam footage of a tow tongue falling out on the freeway and smashing though another car’s windscreen raises the question of towbar safety and legalities.

The dashcam footage is frightening; a HiLux driving on a South Australian freeway drops its tow tongue out, causing a puff of smoke as it hits the road before cartwheeling along, for a moment as if suspended above the road, then smashing violently though the dashcam vehicle’s windscreen.

While thankfully the occupant in the dashcam vehicle was unharmed, this raises a question: what are the safety rules about towbars, and what do you need to do to ensure you are not risking other people’s lives with a loose tow tongue? Do you need to remove the tow tongue when not in use?

Mixed messaging

The Federal Government’s vehicle safety rules (Australian Design Rule 62/03) does not have the scope to answer this question, except to note that the towbar structure must be engineered to withstand certain loads, have certain measurements, and have certain markings to show it complies with the regulations.

It goes without saying, of course, that a towbar must be secured properly -- if it’s the common 50mm towing hitch-receiver, it must be located with a pin and clip and, if fitted, an anti-rattle bolt tightened.

Obviously the tow tongue in the video was not properly secured in the hitch.

The laws regarding securing tow tongues are not clear. While there are road rules about properly securing a load, it's not clear if a tow tongue is considered a ‘load’ or part of the vehicle, if it falls off.

We discussed a similar issue recently with solar panels coming off the top of caravans when in transit. As with the solar panels, there's no clear legislation that says you're supposed to have the tow hitch secured, except that the vehicle must be ‘in roadworthy condition’.

The removal of road debris is in the road rules; for example in NSW it's covered under regulation 293. In summary, it says: “This rule applies to a driver if (a) something falls onto the road from the driver's vehicle or the driver, or a passenger in or on the driver's vehicle puts something on the road and...

(b) there is a possibility that the thing, if left on the road may injure a person, obstruct the path of other drivers or pedestrians, or damage a vehicle or anything else (for example, the road surface). The driver must remove the thing, or take action to have the thing removed, from the road as soon as the driver can do so safely.”

State and territory legislation is more specific about the practicalities of towbar use than Federal Australian Design Rules. This includes, for example, the requirement that the towbar cannot impede the view of the registration plate or its lighting.

As to the legalities when a tow tongue is fitted when not towing, some state/territory legislation raises more questions than it answers.

For example, NSW’s RMS says that “Towbars must not protrude dangerously when there is no trailer connected”.

For Victoria, VicRoads gets more specific, with “...the tow bar tongue should be removed when not towing if it protrudes from the vehicle or obscures the number plate”. Given that almost all towbar tongues are bound to protrude from the vehicle, it suggests that the tongue should always be removed when not towing.

The Queensland Government has a little more clarity in its rules: ”Tow bars, including tow bar tongues, must not overhang dangerously when a trailer isn’t connected. You can use a removable trailer ball mount, protective guard on protruding sections or recessed tow bar to prevent this”.

Expert opinion

We approached RV safety expert Colin Young, from the Caravan Council of Australia for his take on the matter.

"'Dangerous' and 'reasonable' can only be precisely defined by a court, it would seem, and a 1000 judges may possibly give 1000 different opinions," Young surmised.

"Vehicle manufacturers are not permitted to have protrusions on the vehicles that may cause injury.  (So) do owners, who affix additional equipment have the same duty-of-care?"

Young also questioned whether it was "reasonable to expect a driver to remove a tow-bar tongue every time a caravan, trailer or horse-float is disconnected... just in case a person walks by, and close to, the rear of the vehicle, and injures their leg on the tow-bar extension? 

"A close-fitting soft rubber sleeve around the protrusion may well reduce the seriousness of any injury to a pedestrian, but it it reasonable to require this?

"Should a pedestrian be expected to be aware that a tow-bar assembly would extend from a vehicle, and thus not walk close to the rear of the vehicle?" he said. 

For further insight we also reached out to some of the biggest players in the Australian towbar market, including AL-KO, Cruisemaster and Hayman Reese, with only Queensland-based Cruisemaster (best known for its popular DO-35 off-road coupling) responding in time for our deadline.

"In relation to our products we provide a bright red cover for the DO-35 tow pin fitted to the receiver for when not in use," Cruisemaster's sales and marketing manager, Nathan Smith, said.

"This cover is designed to both protect the pin from the elements and create awareness of the potential hazard, reducing the risk of injury or damage due to someone being unaware of its presence."

Final thoughts

Whether you keep your tow tongue in or decide to slip it out when not towing, the recent dashcam footage appears to confirm this simple principle: Always run through a pre-trip safety checklist both when hitching up and decoupling your caravan.

Ultimately, you’re responsible for making sure everything is secure, and that you’re not putting others’ lives at risk...