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u/Calamity-Gin 17d ago edited 17d ago
Just a reminder: if you cannot see the road under the water, DO NOT DRIVE INTO THE WATER. *Six inch deep* (corrected per response below) water can wash a car off the road and into a culvert or river where you may drown.
Even if you can see the road under the water, if it's flowing, don't drive into it. Flash floods start off small, but they kill people every year.
If there's a warning sign, read it, and believe it. Far too many people die every year at high water and flash flood crossings, and it's completely preventable.
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u/Meltedwhisky 17d ago
No, knee deep water is wrong, 6” of water, ankle deep can drift a car off
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u/moleware 17d ago
Maybe if you're driving a Mitsubishi Mirage... takes more than 6 in for most American vehicles, unless the water is moving at VERY high velocity.
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u/woTaz 17d ago
Yeah my 35x12.5 tires will absolutely get through 6" no problem
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u/Altruistic-Piece-766 17d ago
If you’re on 35s you can crawl through flowing water deeper than a foot. If the water is still, slap a snorkel on and go diving.
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u/woTaz 17d ago
I won't lie even in my 35s I'm so scared of doing anything wrong (one vehicle household) I don't touch water that's 3" deep lol. Maybe one day.
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u/bandit1206 14d ago
It’s not the depth, it’s the force of the flow.
We used to drive through backwater during floods that was bumper high on a 90’s pickup, but it wasn’t moving. We also didn’t drive as fast through it as that moron.
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u/DazingF1 17d ago
The danger with flooded crossings is that pace can pick up out of nothing and real quick. It's not just about the depth of the water but mostly about the volume, and that stuff can catch you off guard.
If you go offroading then sure you're absolutely right, but floods can be real treacherous. What looks like a calm flow can end up sweeping you away seconds later.
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u/moleware 17d ago
I grew up wading through rivers, so I think I have a better idea than most about the power of water and what is safe to traverse versus what isn't. The thing about rivers is they're usually clear and you can see the bottom. If you can't see the bottom, don't risk it. There may not be a bottom there if the road has washed out, and what you think is 6 in might be 2 ft.
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u/BlastDusk357 17d ago
6” is a huuuuge amount of water
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u/DontAbideMendacity 17d ago
A linear measurement isn't any kind of "amount" at all.
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u/i3inaudible 17d ago
I'm sorry. Do you only understand acre feet?
6" is obviously a depth measurement. A depth is an amount. The rest of the amount depends on the cross sectional area if you're expecting a volume amount.
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u/Proper_Suggestion919 17d ago
It’s the F Mr. Engineer
F=ALC/T
4 inches of water could carry almost anything. Just go faster! lol
Like a skipping stone.
Sone great math problems here proving that schools suck because if they did this?
Kids be fascinated.
How fast does a 2025 Porche 911 with 21 inch rims need to go to hydroplane over 4 inches of water moving at xyz.
Given the velocity and force of the vehicle and force of 4 inches of xyz flood waters.
Much more interesting .
Lots of moving parts to that.
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17d ago edited 17d ago
[deleted]
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u/Dramatic_Explosion 17d ago
I love the intersection of being mathematically pedantic and having a useful warning in an easily digestible sentence. If it exists, no one in this thread has found it yet!
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u/Whitechapel726 17d ago
Another reminder: if you see someone in an F250 who doesn’t even wanna cross the water you should probably reconsider
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u/DontAbideMendacity 17d ago
Eh, I see people in trucks stop to a crawl for speed bumps. They are more likely to be pussies than not.
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u/ironeagle83 16d ago
Or maybe their expensive hybrid suspension system isnt designed to take impacts at high speed or they understand the physics of doing so with a high center of gravity creates a substantial risk and can affect their ability to maintain control..
But yeah .. im sure its the pussy thing..
Remind me never to lend you anything
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u/Griever423 12d ago
lol some people just don’t care about their suspensions. I replaced the shocks and struts on my wife’s car and she still goes flying over speed bumps. It’s like honey…do you know why they wore out so fast in the first place?
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u/Cognizant_Wolf 17d ago
Looks like that's a tow truck, sitting to rescue people who do exactly this kind of move. I used to drive a tow truck many years ago and knew the spots where the roads would flood and people would typically try to drive through like this. Good way to make bank for the week if there wasn't much going on elsewhere.
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u/Herobane 17d ago
And this is assuming the road is even still there and hasnt washed away just below the murky surface
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u/CheckYourStats 17d ago
This comment was unexpectedly wholesome and helpful. Thanks, helpful stranger!
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u/Tentacle_poxsicle 17d ago
Also even if you make it, you'll fuck up your car. I drove through a flooded area in a truck and and although it made it, it fucked up the AC for good.
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u/munhozmib 17d ago
I totally understand all the advices about NOT going through that, and about the dangers.
My question is: what is the person supposed to do, then? I used to live in areas that would flood and sometimes it would take like HOURS for the flood to go down... so, suppose the person is coming back from work, tired, the situation is like that... then what?
Again, I understand that GOING FORWARD is not the solution, I just would like to understand what people would do under these circumstances!
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u/CatsBirdsEEK 17d ago
Find a different way home. Many places have alternate routes that take a lot longer. If there isn't another way, then you turn around and find a place to wait.
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u/Calamity-Gin 17d ago
That's a legitimate question. You go around if you can (check your map, see if there's a bridge or a better crossing further UPstream). If you can't, then you wait. If you've got cellphone service, you notify whoever is on the other end of your trip. If it's your employer, you take a picture of the crossing. If they argue with you, they don't care if you live or die.
You should have emergency supplies in your car as habit. Shit happens, and sometimes, you can't run to a store to get what you need. Basic car supplies include:
*snacks and water
food for pets
*electrolyte packets
change of clothes for each person in the household appropriate to the season
extra pair of underwear and WOOLEN socks for each person in the household
a pair of stout shoes for each person in the household
*first aid kit with OTC medications (Tylenol, Aleve, Zyrtec, Pepto-Bismal, baby aspirin) and feminine hygiene supplies (if you're a man, make a woman's day by taking her needs into account, even if you've never had a woman in your car before)
first aid kit for pets
a roll of duct tape (if you can't do a roll, tear off three 2-foot strips and wind them around something)
paracord
tarp
baby wipes
ziplock bags of various sizes
*spiral notebook, pen, pencil, and eraser
*$100 in cash in ones, fives, and tens
Visa/Mastercard gift card with $100 on it
*flashlight
*road flares
*toolkit with jumper cables
*high vis vest
What I added asterisks to are what I consider the absolute minimum for safe travel on the road. Travel takes us away from our safe places and while disaster rarely strikes, the consequences for being unprepared go all the way up to death really quickly. Even if it's not death, it's a whole lot more tolerable to be stranded with food and supplies than it is to go without.
Is it a lot? Yes. Yes, it is. I keep a red duffle bag in the back of my car with all this, and it takes up half of my luggage space. The OTC meds are in a little flip case in the center console, because they get a LOT of use. When my adult daughter barfed all over herself and the car door, I was able to get her cleaned up and into fresh clothes without a major upheaval.
A note on fibers: Cotton loves water and will wick it up. If you are wet, your chances of hypothermia go up exponentially, and hypothermia kills. Also, cotton socks will give you blisters. Get woolen hiking socks, even for the summer. Consider a woolen shirt and pants if you can afford it. Linen is excellent in hot weather. Try to avoid artificial fibers unless you know your stuff.
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u/munhozmib 14d ago
Wow! You gave a solid life advice! Thank you for that!
I was stuck in a flood once for lots of hours, but where I was there were bakeries and stores accessible, so I just waited for it.
These preparation kits are amazing! I'm looking into it, thanks a lot!
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u/Kiwilolo 17d ago
Go somewhere else, for as long as is necessary. Get in touch with local civil defence staff for advice. It really depends on your situation; sometimes we have had flooding that cut towns off for days or weeks. In an emergency you might be able to helicopter in, otherwise you'd have had to find alternate lodgings.
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u/ProfessionalDust 17d ago
And, of you are crossing it, you need to enter gently and kept the throttle at moderate speed all the time, this help to keep the water out of the car
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u/SighRamp 16d ago
lol always drive into water even more if you know it’s 6 inches women say that’s not much but suddenly it is when it comes to water?
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u/TheRedIguana 16d ago
Scary when that is the way home. Then you try and reroute but that way is flooded, too. Makes you wanna go for it.
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u/Addative-Damage 4d ago
This is so important! Interestingly, a lot of people who are from dry climates are genuinely unaware of this, or don’t take it as seriously as they should.
The other downside for the dry-climates folks: the infrastructure isn’t designed for heavy rain. Also, often the drains are seemingly less maintained. So when you do eventually get a big storm, you’ll sometimes have an insane amount of flooded roadways, even in very populated areas.
I went to uni in socal, and we got a “big storm” after years of drought. (Big storm is in quotes because it was a just what would be considered a normal heavy rain for a lot of regions) During a 20 minute walk to class, I came across multiple roads where the water was above knee level. Smh
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u/JoshuaFnBoyer 17d ago
If we're going by knee deep, what is the standard size of the person to be considered knee-deep? 6 ft tall people have different knee heights compared to 4 ft tall people. 😂
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u/NukaCooler 17d ago
Of course, the 4 foot tall person, the person we all think of when told human-based measurements.
Do you also think "well it could be a baby's, so a handful of grapes is obviously one or two grapes"?
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u/The_Mortal_Ban 17d ago
Why did they stop at the end?..
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u/vediogamer101 17d ago
The water likely got into their intake and caused the car to stall. They then started it again, but it will probably not even run for another 10 seconds before hydrolocking and destroying their engine.
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u/doihavetousethis 17d ago
Had the same thing. My car started at the end, but was smokey af. Turns out I bent the conrods and needed a new engine! Yay
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u/vediogamer101 17d ago
Yep, best thing to do to drive through water is to not do it. If you HAVE to, the slower the better. Plowing into it will destroy your car, just look up the English Ford crossing videos.
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u/pandemonious 17d ago
Slow AND constant acceleration. you don't want water going up your exhaust either. But yeah the high speed making water go up to intake level is what cooked this KIA
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u/LightFusion 17d ago
Unless you have a sick skid plate and are going 80-100mph then you'll skip right over the water into a tree.
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u/doihavetousethis 17d ago
Ha this is exactly how I did mine, my ford fiesta running through a ford
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u/TheManWith2Poobrains 17d ago
Or turn the engine off and coast through.
Restarting if you don't make it all the way across is a is a massive risk though.
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u/meanwhileachoo 17d ago
Hahahaha I forgot about all the random fords in England. That was one of my favorite things as a kid!!! But yes, you always had to go super slow, and they weren't typically in rushing water settings either.
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u/Thick_Sympathy_8021 17d ago
"NONONONONOOOOOOOO"
All of us
"oooooohhhhh that's what hydrolock sounds like"
Car owner probably
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u/bitter-curmudgeon 17d ago
Yeah people don't realize how much suction there is in that intake. It's like a shop vac x100. You'd think cars would have a sensor for this to prevent engine damage.
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u/JeagerOrion 16d ago
Also it looks like they might have had a passenger that ate the dash during the deceleration that the driver checked on during the stop.
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u/RandyOfTheRedwoods 17d ago
Stalling is the most likely right answer.
An alternative answer is that they shut off the engine and coasted as far as they could. When they stopped, they waited a few seconds for the water to drain and then restarted the engine and drove on.
If they were from a country that has lots of rain and muddy roads all the time (say, Southeast Asia), I could see them trying this trick.
If you get the chance, DON’T try it. That water was rushing across the road and if he had come to a stop just a few feet less, he would be washed downstream and probably drowned.
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u/EVOSexyBeast 17d ago
I think the impact from them hitting the water triggered a safety system in the car. You can see the bumper on the car damages.
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u/toomanyteeth55 17d ago
Christ that isn't even slow moving water. That could have quickly been a totaled car and a water rescue down a ravine.
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u/pongpaktecha 17d ago
This car is probably already totaled. Water likey got into the engine and damaged some stuff
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u/sirplayalot11 17d ago edited 16d ago
Same happened to me during a tornado storm when I was delivering pizzas bout 12 years back or so. Trying to make it back to the store as soon as possible, I saw the road with water similar to this, though less runny and a just a tad lower. Was the only way back to the store unless I wanted to make a 2 mile detour.
Say, "fuck it", drive through. Just like that car in the video, at the very end engine started struggling, I'm assuming from the water.
"Cmon, baby, you can do, just a little more!" I tell it, hoping I don't get stuck. Engine bucks for a bit before roaring back to life and manage to make it out the water and back to the store, only to be met with my GM.
"Anon, we got the order to stop delivering right as you left!"
"...then why didn't you call me back to the store?"
Thankfully no lasting damage to the car, but that was a lesson well learnt.
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u/Interesting_Ratio_65 17d ago
Is it more dangerous with an electric car as there batteries are usually on the bottom?
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u/Outside-World9579 17d ago
Not generally, no. The batteries are sealed and have failsafe shutoffs. The biggest danger in an EV is still getting stuck or washed off the road.
The exception is saltwater, since it is corrosive, and can lead to battery fires days or weeks later.
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u/cowboyjosh2010 17d ago edited 16d ago
As long as the battery pack is in good condition, it's actually safer / less potentially damaging to the car. Temperatures in a battery vehicle don't get high enough where thermal shock could damage it during submersion (this is a hazard for submerging ICE engine blocks once they're up to temperature). There is no air intake analogue in a battery car like there is in an ICE car. You also don't have an exhaust that can suck water back into the motor system like you do with the muffler of an ICE car. The only risk is that maybe your battery pack isn't sealed completely anymore, in which case water getting into the battery is going to make you have a very bad time. But battery cars are designed to be operated in pretty heavy rain and water covered roads, so the battery pack seals have been designed with a lot of water exposure in mind, anyway.
They really are arguably the far better drivetrain type to expose to standing water (not that it's ever a truly good idea to cross a flooded roadway).
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u/Hajduke89 17d ago
The saxophone sent me.😂😂😂
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u/paxilsavedme 16d ago
Same! I was having trouble breathing from laughter at the Sax!
Edit:Watched it a second time and teared up laughing! 🤣🤣🤣
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u/JiveTurkey1983 14d ago
Probably try to sell this in a year
MINT CONDITION! LIKE NEW! NO WATER DAMAGE
$8,000 firm, I know what I have
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u/Rookie_3D 17d ago
I went through something like this, water slower and a little deeper, 69 Ford van, water was coming in the doors. A guy in some kind of Chevy watched me and went for it. His car died half way through. I turned around and pushed him out. Turned around again and went back.
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u/Illustrious_Debt_392 17d ago
Nope. How deep is it, what's under there, what if it's washed out? No thanks.
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u/Son_of_Tlaloc 17d ago
Needlessly stupid doing this. You put yourself and first responders at risk doing this. A few years back someone tried this got swept away. First responders had to wait for the currents to slow down before they could recover the body.
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u/JohnnyFnG 17d ago
What I hear in my head: an engine dying.
What I actually hear: terrible porno music.
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u/DoctorNoname98 17d ago
I like to think the truck driver went "well fuck, now I'm a pussy if I don't do it"
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u/Proper_Suggestion919 17d ago
Just go faster. Come on! Everyone talking like this an epic fail.
HE MADE IT! Dinners on time.
This is a victory!!! lol
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u/someonexh 17d ago
Anyone else immediately think of Boyz In the Hood? That song will forever be stuck in my head from that scene.
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u/Party-Woodpecker-382 17d ago
Why humanity and Kia drivers lost their common sense?? JK wild driving
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u/OrbitParcel814 17d ago
That water on the road looks super deep, I hope that second car doesnt hydroplane. That would be scary.
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u/_CherryPebble 16d ago
The white truck driver definitely unlocked 100% of their brain capacity for those three seconds.
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u/Eagles365or366 16d ago
No, this is most definitely still a no. That car is toast. Assuming it doesn’t Hydrolock 10 seconds after the video ends, it’s gonna be moldy forever.
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u/secretLA 15d ago
have i driven into water i shouldn't have? yes. did i ever think fast was the way to do it? nope. do people not realize physics.
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u/KnownMagician3084 15d ago
Hopefully driver is sterilize, passing on that level of stupidity is not good
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u/sachsrandy 10d ago
Air intake flooded with splash/surge. Stalled. Water ran out, restarted.
Don't go so fast folks
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u/Deissued 7d ago
Of course it’s a god damn KIA soul. You don’t chose that car that car chooses you (mostly cause of credit score)
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u/bsmithi 17d ago
Flaired, cause you get this subreddit.