# Driving in flood waters.Why do people do it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 30, 2017, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-in-flood-waters-why-do-people-do-it/795106 "2017-08-30T15:56:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-in-flood-waters-why-do-people-do-it/795106/21 "2017-08-30T18:33:35Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > So are you saying literally everyone that drives through water made the same stupid decision? I’m saying that everyone has made the same decision: “I think I can make it through that water, and I want to be on the other side”. I suppose whether that was stupid or not depends on the specifics. But I did find the question odd, because the answer to the question was right there in the included anecdote. Again, the specifics matter, but I’m leaning towards thinking the anecdotal behavior was unwise. I would not be comfortable relying on the wake of an unrelated driver for being able to see the road I was driving on. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-in-flood-waters-why-do-people-do-it/795106/22 "2017-08-30T19:10:23Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > I remember needing to get home and trying every which route, all cut off by flood waters, till I found this one, flooded but a guy on horseback willing to guide me through the shallow sections. > > I have also driven though several streams as part of unimproved roadways without bridges. Driving through the stream was part of the road. > > I believe the message is wrong, there are safe ways of driving across flooded sections which is done all over the world. The idea that a puddle of water means wait till it dries is not realistic. And there is the problem. It is considered a on off switch, water means no drive. That is unreasonable to the point of stupidity. Which means we are treated as stupid idiots. > > We should be taught how to drive through water, and when to back off. I agree there are rural roads with built in stream fords instead of bridges. And that driving through water of known appropriate depth and known appropriate water speed at appropriate car speeds can be done. To varying degrees in varying vehicles. Many states no longer have drivers’ ed for even the basics of driving on a dry suburban roadway with excellent signage and low speed limits. We’re, sadly, not going to be able to teach advanced skills to the rank and file drivers of the USA. For those people, the only responsible public safety message is: “Don’t do that! Not Never!” The sub-lesson for the more capable among us is not necessarily “never do that.” It’s ensure you actually know your vehicle’s actual limitations and you actually know the current conditions in detail. And you know you’re paying attention and deciding accurately, not wishfully. If any one of those things is not true see previous paragraph. As to water depth, absent a depth gauge sign [https://i.pinimg.com/originals/36/0c/bf/360cbf5570a8ea5b2de0a5473dac1f47.jpg](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/36/0c/bf/360cbf5570a8ea5b2de0a5473dac1f47.jpg) or water so clear and shallow you can clearly see the roadway, you have zero idea how deep the water actually is. The difference between 4" and 8" is, for many vehicles, the difference between almost certain success and almost certain failure. Good luck estimating that accurately 100 yards ahead through a rain-soaked windshield. So go back to previous paragraph. Our OP demonstrates thinking he(?) was in the more capable group. Was he? Maybe. But probably not. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-in-flood-waters-why-do-people-do-it/795106/23 "2017-08-30T19:10:53Z")
> [@JcWoman](#): > > …Or they can’t think of alternate routes. You simply missed the first clause of my first sentence :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Pippers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b5a626/32.png) [@Pippers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pippers)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-in-flood-waters-why-do-people-do-it/795106/24 "2017-08-30T22:27:46Z")
> [@Driver8](#): > > Uh, you just asked “why do people do \, it’s crazy” and followed it up with an anecdote about the time you did \. > > I dispute your claim that “no one took a chance”. You all did. You just got lucky. The difference between you and someone who drowned boils down to luck or perhaps a minor difference in risk assessment. But fundamentally you made the same decision (which answers your question): you judged you could make it through the water, and it stood between you and someplace you wanted to go. You were right and/or lucky, others were wrong and/or unlucky. No. I saw the roadway and when I shadowed the semi the tandems literally pushed the water out so that I was driving on wet pavement. Not in water. And the drivers behind me saw that they could make it, and the drivers after them, etc. If all I could see was a sheet of water, I wouldn’t have gone. If I came to a dip in the road with a sign that said “turn around don’t drown” I would turn around. ---
**Author:** ![Pippers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b5a626/32.png) [@Pippers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pippers)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-in-flood-waters-why-do-people-do-it/795106/25 "2017-08-30T22:31:17Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > So are you saying literally everyone that drives through water made the same stupid decision? I think they are. But I don’t agree them. There are clearly situations where you hesitate and ask yourself “ummm, should I”? And in that case, no you shouldn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Pippers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b5a626/32.png) [@Pippers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pippers)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-in-flood-waters-why-do-people-do-it/795106/26 "2017-08-30T22:37:56Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Our OP demonstrates thinking he(?) was in the more capable group. Was he? Maybe. But probably not. Dude, I was rocking that water. [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MsElecnlbR4](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MsElecnlbR4) [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=m8s1nOe4Wis](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=m8s1nOe4Wis) ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-in-flood-waters-why-do-people-do-it/795106/27 "2017-08-30T23:55:54Z")
IMHO, it is the same mentality as people who drive around the lowered bars at RR crossings and get hit by trains, and then claim their car “got stuck on the tracks”. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-in-flood-waters-why-do-people-do-it/795106/28 "2017-08-31T00:18:16Z")
I’d take a wager that at least 75% of the people who have driven in Houston for more than 10 years have driven through water. I suspect it is closer to 90%, but I wouldn’t wager that much. Minor road flooding in Houston is just not that rare of an occurrence. When the water starts to back up, it can come up fast. If you hesitate too much once someone has made it successfully, you might not. My general rule was that if you couldn’t see the curb or sidewalk, don’t go. If you could see the sidewalk, you will probably be OK. It’s easy to call the other guy stupid, but the people you see on the news probably aren’t any more stupider than you or I. They just made a mistake, the biggest mistake was getting caught on camera. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-in-flood-waters-why-do-people-do-it/795106/29 "2017-08-31T01:25:09Z")
1. It didn’t look that deep. 2. I really needed to get there. 3. I thought I could make it. 4. The car in front of me made it. Those are the main excuses I heard back when I was with the VFD. ---
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-in-flood-waters-why-do-people-do-it/795106/30 "2017-08-31T02:26:32Z")
> [@Pippers](#): > > With so many pictures of vehicles submerged in water or floating down a street, reports of people drowning inside their vehicles, and warnings like ‘Turn around - don’t drown’, why do some people still insist on doing it? > > Years ago I-5 by Eugene was under water. I was trying to get home and that was the only route feasible. I knew traffic was getting thru but there were some problems. (Like the semi trailer that fell in a sink hole!) I was in a small Toyota pickup. Traffic was very slow and tho the water covered the roadway you could see the lane striping. I was in the middle lane next to a truck, I stayed right by the rear tandems because I could see the road as he displaced water with the tires. Looking in my rearview mirror I could see EVERYBODY was behind me or him. Maybe it was just the traffic with me that day, but no one took a chance and blasted thru the water. > > This isn’t meant as a slam on the victims of floods, I’m sincerely interested in what goes on in someone’s mind that makes them take the chance. Bravado? Desperation? Does your brain shut off the reasoning part because of fear? 1. You were in the older Toyota truck. Those trucks were close to indestructible and could go through more water than most newer vehicles. 2. You took it slow and didn’t try anything silly despite what others have mentioned As for what other get caught in the water, it was explained very well by others in that essentially, the water can get really deep really fast and if you stop in the middle, you are screwed and if you go too fast, you will get in trouble too fast to react. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-in-flood-waters-why-do-people-do-it/795106/31 "2017-08-31T03:49:06Z")
> [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](#): > > I’d take a wager that at least 75% of the people who have driven in Houston for more than 10 years have driven through water. I suspect it is closer to 90%, but I wouldn’t wager that much. Minor road flooding in Houston is just not that rare of an occurrence. > > When the water starts to back up, it can come up fast. If you hesitate too much once someone has made it successfully, you might not. My general rule was that if you couldn’t see the curb or sidewalk, don’t go. If you could see the sidewalk, you will probably be OK. > > It’s easy to call the other guy stupid, but the people you see on the news probably aren’t any more stupider than you or I. They just made a mistake, the biggest mistake was getting caught on camera. I agree. Everyone has driven through an inch or so of water. And I’m guessing the visual difference between an inch or so and six inches might not be that obvious depending on the intersection. And I can easily imagine a road where it is one inch deep water, but gradually it becomes deeper and deeper without you noticing. Also, now that Harvey has moved on from Houston and the weather is nicer, if I ran into a road that had an indeterminate amount of water, I would without question turn around and figure something else out. But if I was driving on Saturday or Sunday, and torrents of rain are coming down, I’m not sure what my thought process would be. I know I don’t want my car to get swept away by the rain, but I might not know of an alternate route home, and I don’t want to get stuck out on the roads, and I want to get to shelter. I’ve never driven in hurricane or tropical storm weather, but I have driven in very heavy rain and I was definitely frazzled and could have made unwise decisions. Also I’m fortunate with my life and responsibilities to never have to be out driving when it’s even possible hurricane weather. Some people have less forgiving jobs, or other responsibilities that require them to be out when it’s not recommended. It’s true some people just don’t listen to the recommendations and think nothing bad will happen to them, but some people just have bad luck too. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-in-flood-waters-why-do-people-do-it/795106/32 "2017-08-31T14:26:18Z")
To get to the other side. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-in-flood-waters-why-do-people-do-it/795106/33 "2017-08-31T14:40:47Z")
Another point is that floating isn’t a yes-or-no thing. Even if the water’s not deep enough to lift your car completely off the bottom, it might be deep enough to partially support the weight of the car through buoyancy. Which means less traction, which means less resistance to the current. So you could be “floated away” without actually floating. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-in-flood-waters-why-do-people-do-it/795106/34 "2017-08-31T14:54:20Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > IMHO, it is the same mentality as people who drive around the lowered bars at RR crossings and get hit by trains, and then claim their car “got stuck on the tracks”. 😕 I don’t think it’s like that at all. As mentioned, most people have driven through water at some point or another. It’s not inherently a dangerous thing like ignoring warnings that a train is approaching. Sometimes though things don’t work out as expected for various reasons. Now I’ve driven down a road to see a police car parked across it with lights flashing, warning that the road is closed due to flooding. Ignoring THAT and driving past in and into the water would be like ignoring track signals. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-in-flood-waters-why-do-people-do-it/795106/35 "2017-08-31T15:12:23Z")
In general, people have a hard time distinguishing between “I want to do that” and “It is possible/safe to do that.” ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-in-flood-waters-why-do-people-do-it/795106/36 "2017-08-31T19:12:44Z")
Many people don’t realize that a thing floats simply because it weighs less than the water required to fill the same space. An average midsized car or compact SUV weighs about [3,500 pounds](https://www.google.com/search?q=average+curb+weight+of+passenger+car&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS688US688&oq=average+curb+weight+of+passenger+car&aqs=chrome..69i57.9359j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8). For every foot of water depth a car displaces about [1,500 pounds](http://www.tulsalibrary.org/faq/how-much-running-water-does-it-take-make-vehicle-float). At a depth of just over 2 feet your car becomes a boat. A very unstable and unsteerable boat. But wait, there’s more! Water is heavy (62.4 pounds per cubic foot). Moving water, therefore, exerts a tremendous lateral force on a vehicle. Expanding on what **Chronos** said, water doesn’t have to completely float a vehicle to sweep it away, just achieve a slight edge in combined buoyancy and lateral force sufficient to overcome the friction between the tire and the road. Think of pushing a sofa across a floor. No need to lift to get it to move so long as you can push (lateral force) hard enough to overcome friction. ---
**Author:** ![HelenGawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HelenGawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenGawn)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-in-flood-waters-why-do-people-do-it/795106/37 "2017-08-31T22:23:07Z")
I was driving down a country road once after a heavy rain. I saw a sign that the road was closed, pointing to a long-way-'round detour. A couple of cars passed me and headed down the closed road. I took the detour. A couple of days later i heard that a car had washed off that road; three people drowned. If people are too stupid, arrogant, or in a hurry to believe the experts, what can you do? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-in-flood-waters-why-do-people-do-it/795106/38 "2017-08-31T23:08:19Z")
I was out driving in my small Mazda pickup truck with a friend [when this unexpected storm really got going in New Orleans in May 1995](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_1995_Louisiana_flood). It dropped over 2 feet of rain in just a few hours and caused billions of dollars worth of damage. I kept driving because I didn’t think we really had a choice. We were in a residential area that I knew well and the water was a known depth (that rapidly got worse) so I couldn’t see how abandoning the vehicle would be any less dangerous because we didn’t have anywhere to go except try to get back home. At one point, the headlights were underwater and I was convinced the engine would die but it didn’t and the door seals held. I am not even sure we could have opened the doors in we had to so we had to talk about climbing out of the windows if the plan failed. Traction was iffy because there was some float but I used every advantage I could including driving on sidewalks and the street car median to get a little more height. I knew it was a serious situation but that was the only thing I could think of to do. New Orleans is flat as a pancake but my neighbor had an artificially raised hill/flowerbed next to the house I was living in. We eventually made it there and I just floored my truck and ran it up as far as it would go. Almost every vehicle on the street was destroyed that night except for mine. A group of us stayed up wading through floodwaters tying cars floating away to utility poles so they wouldn’t cause any more problems. One of them was really sad. It filled with water and the radio suddenly started blasting just before the electrical system shorted out for good as one last tribute. Some other people on I-10 didn’t make it though. There are underpasses there that filled up with up to 19 feet of water and people just drove straight into it. It is impossible to distinguish 2 feet of murky water from 20 feet if you don’t realize the ground level is dropping because the water is flat. Several of them died because of that mistake. I can easily see how it happens. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2017, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-in-flood-waters-why-do-people-do-it/795106/39 "2017-09-01T01:11:23Z")
Sobering story. Glad it worked out OK; at least as far as getting home that night. I’m sure the next month was no picnic. > [@Shagnasty](#): > > … > It is impossible to distinguish 2 feet of murky water from 20 feet if you don’t realize the ground level is dropping because the water is flat. Several of them died because of that mistake. > > I can easily see how it happens. This is really the punch line. The difference between 12" deep driveable water (for a favorable = tall vehicle) and 18" deep non-driveable water (for almost any non-offroad vehicle) is only a difference of 6" in the ground level you can’t see beneath the water. You (any you) drive on roads that undulate 6" all day long without noticing. Even if you think you know the local roads, you probably don’t know them to 6" precision. I live in super flat Miami. But there’s 6" of rise just in the length of the parking lot of my building. I only know that because I’ve waded through it during a severe downpour. You sure can’t see it by looking at it even when dry. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2017, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-in-flood-waters-why-do-people-do-it/795106/40 "2017-09-01T06:47:07Z")
I should NOT have read this thread. I have never even come close to driving into “flood waters,” much less stalled a vehicle or been swept away, yet for some reason it’s an occasionally recurring nightmare of mine. Now I don’t wanna go to bed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-in-flood-waters-why-do-people-do-it/795106.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-in-flood-waters-why-do-people-do-it/795106.md?page=3)