Driving in floodwater warning!

[tixntox]

You just wouldn't believe it!
https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/traffic...escues-6893476
This is a well known flooding spot, where the road passes under the bridge.

[Franky Four Fingers]

People never heed the warnings, we have a country road near work that floods every year, if you were to go down in the summer you can’t quite work out how it’s capable of flooding so badly- but it does. Despite this people blindly thrash through and it’s generally the villagers. I know a local farmer who is very busy this time of year. I can’t quite work out the logic of some people.

Edit: It seems it’s mostly people who have 4x4s that think their vehicle has some amphibious capabilities.⬆️
Sadly a lot of Land Rover owners think a snorkel increases their wading capability.....it doesn’t.

[Foxy100]

I would believe it. People are idiots and think their cars are their fortresses. There's a spot near us that floods and the number of idiots who try to drive though it is remarkable. Usually the road blocks pretty quickly. Still, I'm sure anyone not in one already will see it as another reason to buy a 4x4/SUV.

[Rod]

Given the dim-wittedness of people ignoring lockdown rules, It doesn't surprise me at all.

[MCFastybloke]

I was that dimwit who fail to heed the obvious signs, not in that picture but somewhere in the lakes, my lovely 330d touring took a sip and came to a halt. Sat there for 4 days in the puddle blocking a single lane road until recovery got round to it, no engine damage but it picked up some electrical glitches over the next two months so i traded it.

[chrisparker]

Do insurance companies pay up for people who willingly drive their cars into floods?

[Kingstepper]

Do insurance companies pay up for people who willingly drive their cars into floods?

Believe they do and we all pay for these idiots.

The picture in OP could be misleading though. Maybe just past limit when attempted to drive through, with further flooding now looks far worse.

[Mr Tetley]

Coincidentally I stumbled across this YouTube channel a few days ago. Surprising entertaining.

[mactrack]

I was that dimwit who fail to heed the obvious signs, not in that picture but somewhere in the lakes, my lovely 330d touring took a sip and came to a halt. Sat there for 4 days in the puddle blocking a single lane road until recovery got round to it, no engine damage but it picked up some electrical glitches over the next two months so i traded it.

I was nearly that dimwit too as I also had a lovely F30 330d which was black with a white leather interior and driving back from Devon one New Year's Day on the A303 I came across a small dip in the road which was flooded. I stopped and waited for the first 4x4 to turn up, which didn't take long, and he duly went through and the water level was clearly too high for my car so I turned round and came back via the M5/M4/M25 and I've never taken so long getting home as I was driving slowly and still aquaplaning. The number of accidents that day from other drivers not taking into account the conditions was crazy.

[TKH]

We used to get a couple a year recovered to us..as I am sure FFF did / does too.

one memorable was a rep with an Insignia with 1000 miles on the clock he was dragged in by the AA and then proceeded to rant at full volume at our sweet young lady receptionist about how crap the product is, we asked what happened just before it conked out i.e. just re-fuelled or been near any flooded roads it was battering down, he then went off even more and left saying 'its under warranty just fix it' !!!

anyway into workshop and airbox full of water rang Vauxhall who authorised 'head strip' sure enough full of water in bores and had hydraulic'ed and bent a rod.....engine totalled ....the Service manager rang him and told him Vauxhall refused to pay circa 6K at the time as driver error not manufacturing defect...again he went incandescent and told us he was going to rotten us to the world....his company insurance did not cover either.....

long story short...he worked for a very large Pharma company and car was Lex Leasing they came out inspected agreed with findings and in a bizarre act of generosity sourced a recon engine for us to fit...apparently they had 1200+ cars on with Lex and had threatened to move their business elsewhere ...

he opted for us to deliver his car to his place of work and leave keys at reception...

Don't drive through anything much higher than lowest part of front bumper as many cars have the air inlet pick up pipes low down and literally hoover up the water straight into the airbox / inlet manifold....

[

[higham5]

Honda dealer where I used to service my car in Clitheroe, told me a customer had taken his 2 year old 4wd CRV through a flooded road. £15k worth of damage all electrical apparently. Insurers wrote it off.

[jameswrx]

I would believe it. People are idiots and think their cars are their fortresses. There's a spot near us that floods and the number of idiots who try to drive though it is remarkable. Usually the road blocks pretty quickly. Still, I'm sure anyone not in one already will see it as another reason to buy a 4x4/SUV.

There’s a spot near me that floods across the road, me and my son walked past it recently when it flooded. As we got there a bloke was just out the other side opening his doors for water to flow out! We stood there a while and the amount of crazy folk attempting it was amazing. One young girl came flying along and almost looked oblivious to it (despite a huge river Where the road was). The chap that had broken down brought her to an emergency stop by jumping out at her flagging her down. He was flagging everyone down but still some attempted it.

Saw an old fella break down in there. A learner driver stop half way through it and somehow get going again. Various people who’ve no doubt ruined their cars after going through, it was coming over the front & up to windscreens as people were trying to rush through in anything remotely pointed. Saw a girl attempt to ride a bike through it who burst into crying hysterics half way as she managed to somehow work out the near 2ft flooded road wasn’t a puddle. Baffling and hilarious half hour to be honest.

[Franky Four Fingers]

Coincidentally I stumbled across this YouTube channel a few days ago. Surprising entertaining.

Than Hyundai at around 6:15 surprised me, thought that was a gona for sure

Sorry to any drivers on here but Transit drivers seems mainly crazy

[Kirk280]

Land Rovers for the win. The best part being at 8 mins, obviously.

[higham5]

Land Rovers for the win. The best part being at 8 mins, obviously.

A striking absence of Capri’s Kirk, then again not enough gravel............Ill get my hat

[T1ckT0ck]

Do insurance companies pay up for people who willingly drive their cars into floods?

Definitely as they are paying my mate out for going swimming, it’s a right off! Apparently he put it into park whilst stopped in flood, which means on his model it can only be released by going under the car!

The recovery didn’t have a snorkel so had to drag it out. BMW said that in itself has probably written the car off... just after they said it the 12th car they had in that week due to flooding!

The insurance costs must be astronomical.


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[Sinnlover]

2 years ago we were driving from Harare north towards Zambia through the middle of the worst storm I have ever seen, it was about 8pm and the only way you could keep on the road was by looking for the road edge, visibility was 10 feet at the most. There are lots of rivers that cross the road and they all have bridges that are some way above the high water mark, however this night we came down a ridge we were dead centre of the road knowing where the bridge would be, bang we hit the water, the water was about 4 feet above the road surface on the bridge, it was like hitting a brick wall, water covered the car, it was coming through the vents the door seals the lot. We got to the other side and just pressed on. When I got home I got the torch out to check the car, the bumper was smashed, the bull bars, grill, and bumper had branches, river weed etc imbedded in it. We were very lucky to get out of that alive, if the truck had stopped we would have been washed away, You just could not see the water with the amount of rain hitting the windscreen and bouncing off the dipped headlight beams. We did 250km at 30kph that night!

[Mr_Mac]

Nobody seemed keen to drag that stranded BMW out of the water.

[village]

Nobody seemed keen to drag that stranded BMW out of the water.

I thought BMW drivers could walk on water? Probably assumed the water would just get out of his way.

[Matt8500]

My wife wrote her a6 off a couple of months ago. They didn’t even come and look at it as apparently once drowned they won’t put back on the road in case of an electrical fault in the future. Not worth the risk of something major failing and causing an accident apparently.

I can confirm that
a. Insurance companies do pay out.
b. Even intelligent people can do stupid things.

[thegreatdogwood]

There's a bridge near me which is a key access road and floods from time to time. They have even put markings on the side walls to tell you how deep the water is.

Even when it is passable, the mistake I see all the time is drivers getting anxious (or just plain stupid) and driving too quickly, creating a large bow wave which floods the engine bay. Slow and steady wins the race if it is a sensible amount of water to drive through and you have no other realistic options.

[Kris]

P'ah ... that's nothing

https://youtu.be/z0hkHUjx1ns


Although on a very serious note 30cm /12 inches of moving water is enough to destabilize, move an sweep away a car or 4x4 so if you have any doubts as to how deep water on a road is ... dont risk it.

[Kirk280]

A striking absence of Capri’s Kirk, then again not enough gravel............Ill get my hat

Ha - I just wanted Unclealec to pull me off!

[Chris_in_the_UK]

Land Rovers for the win. The best part being at 8 mins, obviously.

Land Rovers have it.

[vagabond]

P'ah ... that's nothing

https://youtu.be/z0hkHUjx1ns


.

I reckon the Fireman/Driver was ex-navy, probably ex-submarine corp.

[tixntox]

Aquaplaning is quite common in heavy rain. I was passed by a two year old very large BMW with a Mercedes behind (at what looked like a safe distance) and they hit water on the road surface, flowing off a field. There was only an inch or so of water but the BMW went slightly sideways, then did a tank slapper before bouncing off the barrier, into the Merc which had followed suit. Luckily, nobody hurt but both cars severely damaged. Folks driving more steadily had no such problems, so speed played the major part. The flow off the field had cleared before the emergency services and recovery vehicles had arrived, so there was a lot of shoulder shrugging going on. Everyone kept quiet, so as no-one was hurt, the insurance companies were left to sort it! Never underestimate the power of water!

[mikeveal]

I was nearly that dimwit too.

Me too.
About six years ago I was driving home from work along the country lanes (Westbound on Green lane, Ampfield near Romsey if anyone cares.) It was about 9pm and pitch dark. It had been raining heavily and sure enough, the load was flooded under the railway bride as it often is. The railway bridge in on a dogleg and you can't see the road on the other side. I went through cautiously & the water was around 8 inches deep which was deeper than I'd ever seen, but the road on the other side was dry, so no problem.

A few tens of yards further on, I came across another flooded section of road, again on a blind bend so I couldn't see the other side. Flooding under the railway bridge was normal, but in five years of using this road, I'd never seen flooding here. Logically, if the section under the railway bridge floods first, then I reasoned that must be deeper than this section. So I put the car in first gear, upped the revs, slipped the clutch and drove round the bend.

The road wasn't dry on the other side. It was flooded to the next bend. The water wasn't deep & I didn't fancy my chances of reversing around the bend. It's a single track road with ditches either side, going forwards I could see from the hedgerows where the road was. Reversing I wouldn't have had enough light.

Forwards it was.

Exiting the next bend, I now had a bow wave and absolutely no chance of going back. A bow wave is not something I believe a Mark 5 Golf is supposed to have. The water was up to the headlights. I dropped my speed a little and the wave surged ahead of me, leaving a dip behind it. I upped my speed to keep up with the wave, driving in the dip behind the crest. And slowly the road slowly climbed out of the water. I reckon about a hundred yard section was submerged.

Never again.

[snowman]

There's an underpass near me in Aldershot, where a rural road goes under a dual carriageway.

There's a canal next to the rural road and once I saw a Renault Clio up to its windows in water in the underpass with the driver sitting on the roof! This was many, many years ago and, although I don't often go that way nowadays, I don't ever recall seeing it flooded like that before or after.

On another angle, my boss a few years ago drove his Mercedes CLS (V12 I think) into a ford which was a 'little higher than normal' and totalled the engine! I think he said it was £12,000 for a new engine and they wrote the car off.

M

[reecie]

Wonder how well electric cars cope? More drive wise rather than the common electrics.

[vagabond]

Wonder how well electric cars cope? More drive wise rather than the common electrics.

Also most of them have their battery packs very low down, close to, or on the floor. Any wading is going to be a big no-no I would have thought.

[aa388]

Aquaplaning is quite common in heavy rain!

Someone bent one of our trailers the other day, there’s a BMW M8 somewhere written off. Aquaplaned on the M6 and closed it for 45 mins. When asked how fast the driver was going he replied about 70mph, the coppers reply was “well I was doing 140 to get here and I didn’t Aquaplane so you best want to think again as we’’ll pull the car data. Our guy says he’s glad he got hit as at least hitting 44 tons slowed the guy down rather than killing someone.


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[J3w3ll3r]

It’s easily done, in as little as 8inches of water, especially in a brand new BMW 1 series and no the insurance companies do not automatically pay out, they make you work for it, if they think you went in and it was avoidable then you will have issues

Thankfully i proved that mine was unavoidable as they are very quick to write off 9 month old cars now as the repair bills get expensive very quickly


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[Kingstepper]

It’s easily done, in as little as 8inches of water, especially in a brand new BMW 1 series and no the insurance companies do not automatically pay out, they make you work for it, if they think you went in and it was avoidable then you will have issues

Thankfully i proved that mine was unavoidable as they are very quick to write off 9 month old cars now as the repair bills get expensive very quickly


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How was it unavoidable, did the water come to you?

[reecie]

Also most of them have their battery packs very low down, close to, or on the floor. Any wading is going to be a big no-no I would have thought.

But that system will have to be waterproofed to some degree as will the drive motors. Plus you don’t have any engine aspiration. So just was intrigued if it was somehow “better”.

[J3w3ll3r]

How was it unavoidable, did the water come to you?

Thankfully I didn’t need your approval to get my claim through


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[jim]

Wonder how well electric cars cope? More drive wise rather than the common electrics.

I believe the Hyundai at 6:15 in the video is an EV, seems to do fine. Batteries and traction units are pretty much sealed and there's nothing sucking in water and trying to compress the incompressible.


jim

[Lammylee]

This optimistic van driver tried to use his wheels to steer whilst floating down stream. It didn’t work.

https://youtu.be/AZBtgxDH4MY

[JonRA]

This optimistic van driver tried to use his wheels to steer whilst floating down stream. It didn’t work.

https://youtu.be/AZBtgxDH4MY

Dear oh dear!

[snowman]

Thankfully I didn’t need your approval to get my claim through

Indeed - Obviously Kingstepper has never hit standing water in the dark, in the rain...

Luckily I've never aquaplaned off (black ice, now there's a different matter!)

M

[nick h]

i have the latest Range Rover

official figures 900mm of water being safe

game over

seriously, go in very deep water, but keep the speed very low - in my L405 do not let water go over the bonnet into the air intakes

mind you 20 years ago my Land Rover Safari 110 would go through seriously deep water

[Xantiagib]

last time we had flooding with about half a meter of water the local ambulances (VW crafter types - somehow must have low air intakes) all got stuck
engine rebuilds for all