You might think towing a trailer is only something contractors do for work, but there are many people who use trailers for leisure activities, such as transporting ATVs or Jet Skis. To be safe when using your trailer, you need to have a trailer/hitch combo that utilizes sway control.

Sway control is a feature that comes on some trailer hitches that helps keep whatever you are towing from swaying back and forth too much. Research has shown that swaying trailers is a top cause of accidents on the highway. If your trailer starts to fishtail back and forth for whatever reason, either because of high winds or because you had to make an evasive maneuver on the road, it can be a hazard to you and other drivers. Trailers that sway too much also can put stress on their hitches, causing them to break off and causing a huge hazard.

Sway control isn’t the only safety feature that is good to have when towing something behind your car or truck. Electric brakes for trailers are another good feature. Electric trailer brakes allow you to have braking control over the trailer you are towing, rather than just relying on the vehicle you are driving to do all the breaking. To use electric trailer brakes, you need trailer brake wiring and a trailer brake controller. These can require a bigger investment than just a normal trailer and hitch, but they can pay off in added safety features.

If you want to really go all out, you can have cameras installed on your trailer, which will help you better see the traffic around and behind you. Such a system can greatly increase the safety of driving your trailer, but it can be very expensive.

Ultimately, you have to weigh safety vs. cost when using any of these safety systems when towing your trailer. Even the lowest-quality sway control systems and electric braking systems can cost hundreds of dollars, and a camera system can cost even more. On the other hand, even a minor accident with whatever you are hauling, whether it be a flatbed trailer or a camper, can cost you thousands of dollars. So in the end, such systems can be worth the money to avoid a costly crash.