Don't be lazy

[camperforlife]

We all do it. Unhook the weight distribution bar on one side then step over the hitch to do the other side rather than walk around the truck.

I brought the trailer home after having a slide seal replaced and did exactly as I described above. I've done this more times than I can count. Well this time I stepped between the brake-away cable and the trailer frame without realizing it. I came down like I had been lassoed! I smashed my left shoulder into the truck bumper before I face planted into the gravel.

I have over 80K invested in two previous left shoulder surgeries and I certainly didn't need this. I wish I had taken the extra 15 seconds it would have taken to walk around the truck. Time will tell what my laziness cost me this time. I hope only it is only a few days of soreness. Please think about this before you step over the hitch!!!!

[jobythebay]

BurbMan wrote:
OP, sorry to hear about your mishap and hopefully no serious damage done.

I always step ON the hitch or ON the truck bumper and hold onto the electric jack head while stepping over. I have banged my shims and almost fallen too many times just trying to step over the hitch. I put one foot on the hitch or the bumper, grab the jack head, and swing the other foot over to the other side. Use extreme caution if either the hitch or bumper are wet from rain, don't ask me now I know that....

If the truck and TT are at an angle, sometimes you can't fit through and need to walk around.

and for those of you who have travel trailers (I walked around our truck) I had bursitis from climbing over the doggie gates in our house. Needless to say I stopped the laziness and now move them. Be careful.

[Atlee]

old guy wrote:
I'm old, I can't get my leg up that high any more.

Amen to this. That said, if the trailer is still hitched to the truck, I may step on the hitch to cross over.

[DiskDoctr]

op, sorry to hear of your fall. It's amazing how many accidents result in a comment, "I'm an idiot, what was I thinking!"

That's not a disparagement towards you, rather a recognition that your reminder is one many of us certainly do not mind 😉

Btw, try a little ginger root for that shoulder. Almost no side effects (minor blood thinner warning) and does a fair job of keeping the inflammation down so you can heal without all the drug effects.

Not 'medical' advice, simply a tip from one who deals with shoulder pain quite often.

Hope you heal quickly!

[Passin_Thru]

I 5 feet tall and Fat as Santa, could'nt get over it with a trampoline. My shoulder hurts from fishing on the Mosquito Lagoon and catching 25 lb Reds with Capt. Karty.

[BurbMan]

OP, sorry to hear about your mishap and hopefully no serious damage done.

I always step ON the hitch or ON the truck bumper and hold onto the electric jack head while stepping over. I have banged my shims and almost fallen too many times just trying to step over the hitch. I put one foot on the hitch or the bumper, grab the jack head, and swing the other foot over to the other side. Use extreme caution if either the hitch or bumper are wet from rain, don't ask me now I know that....

If the truck and TT are at an angle, sometimes you can't fit through and need to walk around.

[DE88ROX]

wrvond wrote:

camperforlife wrote:
I'm stealthy as a cat:B.

Funny you should mention that. Last night my cat, while trying to be extra stealthy, fell off the bed and landed very hard on the wooden floor. :E I think he spent the rest of the night under the bed nursing his wounded pride. :W

I have a cat too that is lacking "cat like skills"

[wrvond]

camperforlife wrote:
I'm stealthy as a cat:B.

Funny you should mention that. Last night my cat, while trying to be extra stealthy, fell off the bed and landed very hard on the wooden floor. :E I think he spent the rest of the night under the bed nursing his wounded pride. :W

[CavemanCharlie]

I've banged my shins on the hitch sticking out of my truck many times. It's not that hard to bend over and remove it but, if I'm in a hurry I don't and end up regretting it later.

[Tim_W]

The biggest thing that steers me away from stepping over the hitch area is when I am concerned about getting dirty - I seem to always end up with grease from somewhere on my pants leg.

Same here

[DE88ROX]

What always gets me, if im wearing shorts, is the ball that holds anti-sway bar. Never fails, the one time I dont look out for it grabbing my shorts, is the one time time I get snagged. Grrrrrr

I have a coil cord type break away cable so that pretty much stays right in line with the a-frame of the trailer. I don't think I could step into it if I tried.

Just had a "procedure" done on my shoulder as well. Hope you didn't mess yours up to bad.

[DailyDriver]

Reminders about being safe are always warranted. DW stumbled over some shoes she left on the floor of our S&B bedroom yesterday. Now she has a badly sprained ankle and long recuperation ahead of her.

I spent some time as a safety engineer during my working years. All injuries are caused by some kind of unsafe act, and all unsafe acts offer potentially harmful consequences. Do you ever go down stairs without using the handrails? We all know potential consequences of that..! Next time you see a video of the President exiting Air Force One, notice the potential consequences of his actions. It will make you cringe!

Going down stairs doesn't have to be dangerous if done correctly. If one must step over the hitch and associated hardware, make sure you have both hands latched onto something solid to prevent a fall. So, with 3 points of contact you will minimize the chance of serious consequences. Pretty simple, really!

Be safe and have fun with those rigs....

[camperforlife]

Caveman you made me chuckle. I can say that this individual will not do anything with a motor vehicle with even 1 drink on board. That does not mean that I won't enjoy a couple around the fire.

rdhetrick, I also understand the comment about fear mongering. I probably would have felt the same way a few years ago. It takes something like the accident that caused my original shoulder injury to convince you that you are not invincible.

[CavemanCharlie]

Since you were unhooking the TT at the time I'm assuming, and hoping, that alcohol was not involved. But, most of my falls have alcohol in the story somewhere.

At my favorite park they used to have installed charcoal grills; as many parks around here do. But, for some reason when they put these grills in they put them right at ground level and cemented them in. And, because they were right on the ground they quickly rusted out. After tripping over them many times in the dark I decided to take action (They were painted black, hard to see, and in weird locations.) One time I took a photo of my bruised and bloodied shin and gave it to the park rangers. Along with pointing out that the things had never worked very well, nobody used them, and they were rusted out. After bugging them about it for awhile they did finally remove them. It took a couple of years (it's a county park and you know how fast government operates) But, now there finally gone and everybody that frequents that park thanked me for pushing to get rid of the dangerous things.

[fallsrider]

I do consider it advice to at least ponder. All of our lives involve risk assessment in many situations. Some of us will climb all the way to the top of that 28" extension ladder to clean out the gutters. Others of us don't want to get more than 2' off the ground. It never hurts to hear about others' experiences and to take into consideration those experiences for ourselves. Maybe we won't make any changes because our own personal risk assessment deems it a reasonable risk. Maybe we will decide to do a task differently next time. We each have to decide for ourselves.

But I will argue all day long that the guy doing 100+ down a 2-lane country road trying to escape a LEO has his risk assessment considerations way out of whack, both for himself and for others! People make really stupid decisions every day. It's the more common activities, such as that of the OP, that we need to evaluate for ourselves. I will step over the hitch next time. Hopefully, I won't be coming back here with a sheepish look on my face, my shoulder in a sling and stitches on my face. But there's always the risk that could happen.