There wasn't even a 'Try Your Brakes' sign at the end! Seriously, was this for ****s n giggles or was it a vital journey? If it was for kicks, then the guy's an absolute tool. Had he stalled, he'd have diverted much needed emergency services from attending somewhere else. Just my two penn'orth.

More foolhardy; been a number of 4x4's swept away fording etc. by strong undercurrents, resulting in the death of the driver.

TP

I take it it was fitted with a snorkel?

I agree with some of the posters above. As a member of the Fire and Rescue Service this was a foolhardy stunt which, had it went wrong, would have diverted scare resources away from other emergency calls.

Title should read Stupid driving through flood video.

And it looks like he drove some distance on the wrong side of the road.

Evidently it was to avoid a 30 mile diversion but I do agree it was foolhardy...

Foolhardy.....to save a life...without question.....otherwise...No, No, No

Looked the road up on google maps (A1101, Wash Road), seems that it spends a lot of time underwater...

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=welney&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x47d81074f5b45a5b:0x6706859b75a87f9c,Welney,+Norfolk&gl=uk&ei=r_K4UKnGNNCo0AWUwIHABA&sqi=2&ved=0CHgQtgM

Even has "Think! Don't Sink" signs at either end. :think:

Actually, near the start, the depth gauge thing shows the water at 2 ft, which for a Defender with snorkel and a driver who knew the road isn't a big deal. The level does seem to get deeper though and not much scope for changing your mind.

Wouldn't try personally, not without a lifejacket! Can see the attraction if you've got a suitable vehicle.

Driver was a complete knob for trying that - have some folk got no common sense whatsoever ??

For anyone who doesn't know the area, this is deliberate flooding. There are two large essentially parallel drains (straight(ish) main-made rivers) that have high banks but which enclose very low-lying land between. When there's a lot of water coming down from the upstream rivers, the excess is deliberately diverted into these 'wash' areas and thereby protects a lot of other low-lying fenland from inundation.

It's unfortunate for Welney that the main access road from the East passes right across the washes. So it's not uncommon (typically 2-3 times a year, perhaps for a week or two at a time, but varies a lot from year to year) for Welney to be cut off from the East, though not from the West. Locals are obviously well used to it and can usually judge when it's passable, even when the road is nominally closed. Possibly not good judgement in this case though .

Edited 30 November, 201213 yr by prodata

I agree, that was quite extreme.

Not a good call, but the water didn't appear to be flowing very much, so not too much danger from being swept away. It felt quite fast. I would be surprised if this defender didn't have a snorkel.

I have seen videos of 4x4's completely under water, with just the snorkel above the water. Extreme yes, but if the vehicle is 'old school' and prepared for it then okay, but this was a long drive through 'live' water. As mentioned above, not a good call.

I agree, that was quite extreme.

I suspect that the water will produce all sorts of problems in the electrics under the bonnet, under the dash and also in the mechanics of the clutch, gearbox and diff in the long term.

I suspect that the water will produce all sorts of problems in the electrics under the bonnet, under the dash and also in the mechanics of the clutch, gearbox and diff in the long term.

Depends on whether it was prepared for going through water. Many 4x4's are by their owners.

Our Yeti's would have died quite quickly, but a properly prepared 4x4 can cope with that, but as I said above not a good call, difficult to see where the road is-you would have to know it well, and they appeared to as they knew it was going to get deeper.

A properly prepared 4x4 would have no problem with that, including snorkel for the intake all the breathers on the gearbox axles etc would have extensions on them to take the opening to roof level. I used to live just the other side of Cambridge and know the area reasonably well, the Welney washes are known to be one of the first to be flooded. Prodata is quite correct, the areas are just used for flooding from the local watercourses, there is no flow as such from them so no real chance of being swept away. The roads also have marker posts in areas where there are no trees marking the edges so you know where the road is going when it is under water.

Ian

The 'official' response:

http://www.bbc.co.uk...orfolk-20555116

A properly prepared 4x4 would have no problem with that, Ian

I accept that but how do you keep water out of the starter, alternator, fan motors etc. Also seeing as water was pouring in to the interior the prep. was not that good.

Norry, it's a Land Rover, they're designed for it!

And some owners don't worry unduly about getting them wet.

My old Series 3 regularly got taken through water over half a metre deep. Don't forget the fording depth is 750mm!

Personally I think the guy was not very sensible as there was no good reason for him doing it. Potentially he is leaving himself open to prosecution if he passed a "Road Closed" sign.

A modern Defender type Land Rover without Waterproof pack & raised air intake (snorkle) has an official wading depth of 500 mm (20")

750 mm (29 1/2") is below the top of the standard tyre size.

(so on 33" tyres that is 840mm to the top of the tyres)

You can never really waterproof a Defender to stop water entering the cab,

but you certainly need it away from the Fuses or ECU.

The water might not bother a diesel & the starter & alternator might only be a problem later once stopped.

Or the next time you go to start it!

He was damn lucky that he never got into a deeper dip on part of the road surface that had broken away.

george

My old Petrol/LPG LR before i bought it, Getting along just fine. Then what you can just expect when you are being stupid.

But i never waded once it was prepared properly for it, incase of emergencies,

too damp & cold up here for wet & steamed up mouldy interiors without decent heaters.

The 'official' response:

http://www.bbc.co.uk...orfolk-20555116

Just saw this featured on the BBC Look East this evening.

Not clever IMHO.

Sent from my Xperia S using TapaTalk 2

Admittedly I've gone just as deep, but I've kept to offroad courses.

Problem there is, it may be a road, but you have no idea if anything else is under the water.

A Defender modified to handle deep water will do that and more. It just really increases the maintenance costs and effort.

A guy tried the same in our local long ford a few years back, but his snorkle leaked and on the return trip his engine went, leaving him stranded in the middle and sitting on the roof as the cab filled up.

Admittedly I've gone just as deep, but I've kept to offroad courses.

Problem there is, it may be a road, but you have no idea if anything else is under the water.

A Defender modified to handle deep water will do that and more. It just really increases the maintenance costs and effort.

A guy tried the same in our local long ford a few years back, but his snorkle leaked and on the return trip his engine went, leaving him stranded in the middle and sitting on the roof as the cab filled up.

Was that Good Easter ford by any chance?

Last week on the local (north-east) news, a defender in Durham was filmed trying to cross a flooded ford, got halfway across,and was swept away!