ADVICE - Cross Your Safety Chains!

I'm not sure if you'd call it a 'positive subject' but I don't remember in my 75 years (56 as a driver) reading much about safety chains on trailers.... Lot's of drivers these days are towing little domestic trailers around, moving garden refuse, furniture, dirt bikes and other 'stuff' from A to B...

There are also thousands of assorted RV's, and boats trailers, on the road too, from say 10' to 20' long... I have two trailers, an 8' domestic and a little 15' RV. In my travels, I often notice that the safety chain on a lot of trailers are not 'crossed' when hooked up to the towing vehicle... I believe a little space in your colum is warrented, to inform the drivers that tow these trailers, that it is imperritive that the safety chains on any trailer being towed, are CROSSED!!!!

The reason for this is, that when you cross the chains, they form a 'cradle' and should the ball and hitch mechanism come apart, the the tow bar will drop into the cradle, stopping it from dropping onto the road surface, digging into a pothole, and doing no end of damage...

I once actually saw a mechanism come apart on a loaded boat trailer, being towed by an SUV, going over a rail road crossing. The front end of the trailer dropped, and the towbar struck the side of one of the rails! The abrupt stop shot the boat forward, over the front of the trailer, bent the winch bar that holds the winch that loads, and locks the boat, snapped the safety cable, and sent the boat into the back window and door, of the SUV! doing considerable damage to: 1) the SUV! 2) the trailer! and 3) the boat....... This accident would NOT have happened, if the safety chains were crossed because the towing frame of the boat trailer would have dropped into the cradle.