if it's flooded... drive right through!

[Casino Jockey]

note: title is a play on a local advertising slogan - if it's flooded forget it. anyway in the last week or so we have received almost our entire yearly rainfall. needless to say, lots of roads have water across them. i had to go driving today and the amount of people driving through deep water - i'm talking at least 6 inches of standing water - the cars are mostly sedans, not 4WD vehicles.

if they stall or cut out it means that other people put there lives on the line to rescue these dopes... drivers who do thus should be jailed imho

[EricKei]

It's illegal in many places to drive through flooded streets *at all*, especially in flood-prone areas. This is more because doing so pushes water into houses, than any concern over the cars themselves. Doesn't seem to stop too many people from pulling this crap.

I heard stories back in New Orleans about people whose houses survived floods or even hurricanes without a drop of water in their houses...only to lose thousands of dollars in flooring and furniture because some @$$hole decided that having enough standing water covering the street and lawns of houses nearby to reach over the tops of their shoes was no reason not to do 30mph in their deathmobiles.

[sms001]

I believe (XCashier, Deserted, Jester, correct me if I'm wrong) Arizona has a 'Stupid Driver Law' where if you pull stupid crap like that you get tagged for the full cost of the rescue. Makes sense to me!

[wolfie]

I've made deliveries at several customer sites where I need to wear my winter boots (steel toe and sole, warm liner, and seamless rubber 3/4 of the way up my calves) when making a delivery - the critical attribute in these cases being the seamless rubber. Due to poor design and/or maintenance, their loading bays flooded in wet weather.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Tell me about it! There was an incident a few years back not far from my house where a woman on a moped drove through rising waters during a heavy rain and ended up drowning - while being pursued by local police.

[SongsOfDragons]

There's a bridge in the New Forest near Brockenhurst which has a road beneath it that floods often. It looks very deceptive when the water is beneath it - there's such a dip that what appears to be a centimetre-deep puddle at its edge will often translate to waist-depth or more. There's a gauge on the bridge that shows the water line - but the grockles who visit the Forest will ignore it and attempt the bridge, to obvious results. -_-

[sms001]

but the grockles who visit the Forest [emp. add.]

Sweet! New slang for sms. Interesting etymology too.

[protege]

I've only driven through a flooded road once. The water appeared to be only a few inches deep. Little did I know that the "few inches" turned out to be about 6. Still, the Corolla made it through in 2nd just fine. But, it was a bit unnerving to actually feel the wheels come *off* the ground at the very end Would I do it again? Of course not. But, at the time, I wasn't about to make an even longer detour to go one block. I was already in a dangerous area...and wasn't about to go further in that neighborhood than I had to.

[XCashier]

I believe (XCashier, Deserted, Jester, correct me if I'm wrong) Arizona has a 'Stupid Driver Law' where if you pull stupid crap like that you get tagged for the full cost of the rescue. Makes sense to me!

Just Googled it, and found this entry in Wikipedia: Stupid Motorist Law. I think it'd be a good idea to enact that across the nation!

[MoonCat]

A bus that services a local mall did that once. My sister and I were waiting for the bus and when one showed up (different bus route) I asked if he knew what happened to the #6. He gave me this look like I was utterly stupid and said, "It's been raining heavily!" I said, yeah--so? Another look and then he tells me that the other driver had gone through standing water under a bridge overpass and flooded the engine, stalling the bus. I told him I had no way of knowing that, which was why I asked, and, it wasn't my fault she was that stupid.

[sms001]

Just Googled it,

lol, thanks X. I thought the phrase was just my friend in Scottsdale's cynical reference for it; never even occurred to me to look it up that way.

I think it'd be a good idea to enact that across the nation!

I hear ya. And maybe for a few other situations as well. Hey! It's like a real life Stoopid Tax.

[KhirasHY]

There are a few highway underpasses that are notorious for flooding here...one year after we got a massive blizzard, someone drove their car into 3 FEET of standing water thinking they would make it through.

/facepalm

[KatherineB]

It's funny how people don't think of depth in the same way they do height. I remember doing a surf life-saving course when I was young and the life-saver was telling us about people going out in three-metre surf. Well, that didn't sound like very much, did it? Not until we stood next to the three-metre-tall wall and had to imagine that as a wall of water of our heads, waiting to crash down and drag us under. Then think about five-meter and seven-meter waves. Um, no thanks!

The question they should be asking themselves is - would they walk through it? No? Then don't drive through it! Cars aren't built with magic force-fields to protect them!

[wolfie]

There are a few highway underpasses that are notorious for flooding here...one year after we got a massive blizzard, someone drove their car into 3 FEET of standing water thinking they would make it through.

What I'd like to see is someone in a Schwimwagen or an Amphicar (probably going to a get-together - not the sort of vehicle to use as a "daily driver") go through a flooded underpass without problems, and the guy behind them in an ordinary car try to follow.

[dalesys]

... someone drove their car into 3 FEET of standing water...

Make it through on momentum?

Kiddies, there's a reason they used a ditch full of water to stop Stapp when they were trying to find out how many G's of deceleration it took to rip off a face.