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It would be interesting to hear from an insurers perspective, when there is ( potentially) deliberate damage to a vehicle.
My dad wrecked his car driving through a flood, he'd previously leant a car to a friend who crashed that as well - 2 X total losses in a short space of time equalled refusal to insure for a while, but he got another friend to put him on their insurance untill those losses became historic.
From what I've seen some insurers have an exclusion about being driven deliberately into deep water. Otherwise they might go with a "causing deliberate damage" exclusion.
But it's generally subject to a careless/reckless assessment - so should the driver have taken precautions. Like looking at the signs, stopping, slowing down, taking another route, driving according to the highway code, etc.
Or did the driver go into the water unknowingly.
If it's reckless, the claim would likely be declined. If it's careless then hopefully it'll get paid. Evidence is going to be very important here, but frankly given the staggering levels of buffoonery (and social media coverage) at Rufford I doubt many insurers will be looking to fork out willy nilly for those claims.
It used to be nice at Rufford, lines of kids on the footway and you got a cheer if you splashed them.
Harmless fun and a useful shortcut. Washed the underneath and wheel arches too.
More than once I turned around because the water was too high, you could tell because it looked bloody deep and a lot wider than usual.
Muppets the lot of ‘em!
Work colleague has just bought a cheap insurance write off Volvo XC70 project that's been hydraulic'd in deep water and bent a con rod.
This popped up on my Youtube suggestions just now. I watch a fair bit of the Auto Shenanigans channel, he's very good. This was filmed in November 2022 just before they first put a road closure in for the ford. Some interesting history about the place too.
An automotive Darwin Award.
Lol at one of the comments on that YT video
"And that ladies and gentlemen is why aliens don’t make contact"
I cannot help but think that if someone is standing by a flooded part of road filming everyone who goes through that it is time to find another route…
Also, the massive broken down, flooded truck twice the height of some attempting it.
It really does worry me how far removed from the outside world so many people are, and driving around.
I see it's near Centre parcs never seen the ford but my son and myself used to disappear to the kart track most days just outside the over rated holiday park although great to cycle round when your kids were young 25 years ago
I'm guessing it's still a fairly expensive week away compared to flying off somewhere
For balance, near Hawes both Burnt Acres Road and the main A684 east both flood, and they flood quickly. The number of Dunning Kruger trapped keyboard warriors who will proclaim "why did those idiots drive into water that deep" every time it gets posted on facebook goes a long way to explaining why those people got trapped in the floodwater. They probably broke down when it was <1ft deep, that it's over the windscreen of their T5 30min later wasn't the original problem.
Fastfoward a couple of months and it's raining again, someone drives into it because it's 'only' a few inches deep, not the meter+ it is in the bad photos, the water continues to rise until the car looks properly flooded, breaks down, and the cycle continues.
I have not bought a Ford for some time. Is there an issue?
[edit] I typed that wrong, the car's break down in what appears to be quite shallow water, then 30min later someone takes a photo of it up to the windscreen and calls them an idiot.
It takes surprisingly little water to kill some cars it seems. I presume in a lot of cases it's the electrics rather than the air intake. Conversely there was a video of a Nissan (Qashqai?) pushing a bow wave higher than it's bonnet with seemingly no adverse affects. There are idiots out there undoubtably, but I don't think people realize quite how little water it takes to break down. Even down here in Reading I saw a Focus stranded in about 6-8" of floodwater (my feet barely got wet passing it), I presume it must have just taken an unlucky splash to something electrical.
They probably broke down when it was <1ft deep, that it’s over the windscreen of their T5 30min later wasn’t the original problem.
So the problem is still that they drove into water that was too deep for their vehicle. Whether it's 30 or 100cm doesn't make them any less stupid.
It takes surprisingly little water to kill some cars it seems. I presume in a lot of cases it’s the electrics rather than the air intake
As i recall from the old Rufford videos BMWs were notably worse than most. The air intake is low and if water gets anywhere near bonnet level it'll likely end in tears. I wouldn't deliberately take mine through more than a deep puddle.
On the other hand, that may be just confirmation bias on my part!
So the problem is still that they drove into water that was too deep for their vehicle. Whether it’s 30 or 100cm doesn’t make them any less stupid.
Yea, but my point was you can wreck a car in water that wasn't even deep enough to warrant a change of socks when I got to the office.
There's idiots who get stuck in water, and there's idiots who get lucky and attribute it to being a driving god.
some of those (like the mini) in the latest vid are getting borked on barely a puddle.
Or they could try just not being idiots. If you’ve no idea how deep it is, don’t drive through it.
I think you've got the wrong end of the stick.
They know how deep it is (6"), they probably tut on the internet when they see people who "drove into water that was too deep for their vehicle", then subsequently find out the hard way that kerb deep water is enough to kill an alarming number of cars.
And then in the case of Burnt Acres Road a picture of their car once the river has risen over the bonnet ends up on the local facebook group and people tut and ask why they "drove into water that was too deep for their vehicle".
Part of the problem once you're in water is that it's almost impossible to turn around or to stop and reverse out, that'll kill everything just as much as carrying on.
Doesn't help when you have other drivers tailgating you through or getting impatient cos you're trying to leave a big gap to the car in front in case that stalls and blocks you in. It's easy to drive into something that you've just seen another car negotiate successfully but catch the bow wave wrong, dip into a pothole or just have a car that's not as capable. I think the problem is actually worse now because so many people have SUVs which they assume can do things like wading, driving on snow etc and then they find either that the car is a triumph of marketing over engineering or that they're not experienced enough as a driver to handle those conditions. Or both.
some of those (like the mini) in the latest vid are getting borked on barely a puddle.
Because they're driven by idiots who hit the water at speed. This forces it up into the air intake where it swamps the air filter. They would probably get away with it at this point if they let the engine idle so the water drains out, but they boot it instead and suck the water straight into the engine.
If you watch the videos you'll see most of the cars die the moment the driver mashes the accelerator pedal.
then subsequently find out the hard way that kerb deep water is enough to kill an alarming number of cars.
You must live near some really big kerbs. They're all standard 100mm (ish) around here. 1st gear, slow and steady, etc. Can't see the kerb, turn around. We've had a fair amount of flash flooding recently that's put water at kerb height.
Can’t see the kerb, turn around
that's my rule too, though last time I was in that situation (last year in Cov) I was in a long line of traffic, the concrete kerbs on either side of the road basically making it into a canal, I couldn't turn around doing a full 180 because of the limited width of the road (aka canal) and a 3-point turn was impossible because there was some spooner driving on my backside, fortunately the water did not get much deeper...
Mental.. I hadn't seen this thread before!!!
There's a reason off road vehicles have those snorkle pipe things comming out of the bonnet!!!
Saw the Qashqai video. The air intake is high up but it's right near the bonnet and anything over the bonnet will go in the intake. They were lucky. Won't take the wife's Qashqai through more than a few inches as I'd be in right bother.
Saw the Qashqai video. The air intake is high up but it’s right near the bonnet and anything over the bonnet will go in the intake. They were lucky. Won’t take the wife’s Qashqai through more than a few inches as I’d be in right bother.
You'd need to sillicone all the joints in the air intake system& filter box too.. as the intake sucks air in really hard at high revs so it would suck water in wherever it can...and coil/ignition pack? presumably they are not waterproof on most cars...
You’d need to sillicone all the joints in the air intake system& filter box too.. as the intake sucks air in really hard at high revs so it would suck water in wherever it can
Surely if it's air tight then you shouldn't need to do all that? If you have to apply silicone to seal then the joint was never good in the first place.
To me people posting with confidence on a subject they are not expert in is the same human trait that causes this sort of behavior. Over confidence arising from ignorance, e.g. Dunning Kruger. We all suffer from it sometimes. Any automotive engineers commenting here?
Surely if it’s air tight then you shouldn’t need to do all that? If you have to apply silicone to seal then the joint was never good in the first place.
Between the filter and intake manifold, it should already be, but I wouldnt bank on anything on the 'non engine' side of the filter.
4WD 24-7 on YouTube is one of my fave channels, I've seen them drive through water that's up to their chests lol!
As for the Rufford videos, they certainly seem to attract a certain type of driver. A not very good type.
Halfwits !! I’m guessing it’s a long diversion to avoid the flooded areas ? Hence the muppets going for it ?
The tractor lad was on holiday when someone showed him the video, he turned himself in and got a telling off and a fine I believe. Notts CC have said theres no alternative to closing the ford. The locals I believe are appealing.
Notts CC have said theres no alternative to closing the ford. The locals I believe are appealing.
Well bridges are very expensive aren't they?
(There's a road bridge that goes over the A1 near Tuxford not far from there. That's shut to traffic because of no longer being strong enough. That's not been replaced.)
The Rufford area which I ride often - must have heritage based restrictions too attached to it, given the historical nature of that area.
It's really not that far around and very small roads/lanes near the ford so I'm glad it's shut. Just a rat run to the a614 between Ollerton and Nottingham.
There aren't that many locals in that area really. It's a tiny spot.
(Technically it does have a small footbridge so you can ride and walk.)
I’m guessing it’s a long diversion to avoid the flooded areas ? Hence the muppets going for it ?
Rufford is on some of the road routes I ride. I suspect the locals rarely have a problem with the ford as they know when it's safe and when it's not, and take the diversion when they need to.
These videos attract idiots to the area who then cause the problems that mean locals have lost the use of the ford when it's safe. Utter stupid morons.
As always, this is why we can't have nice things.
My sat nav always used to take me through that Rufford Ford when I went to Sherwood Pines. I think I have been through it once in the summer time when it was clearly no deeper than a few inches.
I did turn up once in the late autumn when it was much deeper. There were several people egging me on to drive through it. I stopped, took a proper look to assess the depth and then gunned it straight through with my foot to the floor turned around to find a more suitable route.
I find it amazing that people will risk their expensive cars driving through deep water (or even shallow water in an inappropriate manner).
The lay person nowadays can't change their own engine oils - how would they have an understanding of the physics of hydraulic compression and bent conrods?
Saying that I understand it but accordingly I'm a social leper at dinner parties so it balances out.
You’d need to sillicone all the joints in the air intake system& filter box too.. as the intake sucks air in really hard at high revs so it would suck water in wherever it can…and coil/ignition pack? presumably they are not waterproof on most cars…
I was considering that in relation to our Fiesta and the stranded Focus.
On the Fiesta at least the airbox is mounted on top of the cam covers and the intake is short hose from that to the front grille. Ditto the coil is mounted on the end of the camshaft (I guess for historical packaging reasons, it's not driven off it anymore) so it's all quite well shielded unless you completely submerged the car. On a Focus the filter is a little lower behind one of the headlights and the spark plugs are exposed, there was actually an issue with them because the screen washers would leak, fill the space between the cam covers and then the car wouldn't start.
I suspect either he hit the water hard enough to do some mechanical damage and dislodge something or it's just sprayed into the engine bay and hit the electrics.
I guess it's all kind of redundant unless you've kitted out your car like a 'Camel' land rover for driving around in the Amazon...
Once you create a 'bow wave' up and over your front grille your gonna have a bad day as you will get water sucked into the engine via the air filter at a minimum...
Most intakes before the filter are mounted at headlight level or even lower, so you're going to lunch your engine anyway unless you do some serious mods.
It’s really not that far around and very small roads/lanes near the ford so I’m glad it’s shut.
7 minutes extra! That’s over an hour a week, Tyrone!
It's not just the intake you need to worry about though. Driving through water is a terrible return on the cost/benefit.
The cold water will get into bearings and past seals. Differentials and other gear housings will suck in water. Your lovely DSG box has a vent about 300mm off the ground.
All of the spinny mechanical bits on a car have breathers, they're all vulnerable and expensive.
I've got a 30yr old Toyota Hilux, it's completely fine up to about a 1m of water, chances are it would be ok deeper. I'd still avoid deep water if there was an option though because of the above.
If anybody has a replica of the car from The Spy Who Loved Me - that would make a great video, just seeing how the crowd reacts.
Bloke at the start in the van trying to tell his boss or someone that a car coming the other way caused him to get stuck in a ford. Lolz 🙂
Lying on YouTube.
It’s not just the intake you need to worry about though.
Also add to list under-trays, trim and bumpers ripped off even in a couple of inches if you are going quick enough. Just not worth it on so many levels.
It's a 3.9mile detour 9min according to maps.
If poor road choice was about the time I wouldn't always meet drivers trying to rush through the terrible little back road past RSPB Fowlmere - that one doesn't even save any driving time according to Google, and certainly won't when you meet another driver coming the other way, yet people still have to do it because they're just that thick.
It’s a 3.9mile detour 9min according to maps.
It's crazy what people do to save a few mins...
Unrelated, but I was in an accident many years ago, small flat-bed lorry carrying pallets insecurley in front of me, lost a stock of pallets off the back, some of which ended up under my car and into my bonnet.
So we both stop, hazards on, etc.. as I went to open my door to inspect the damage, someone behind me clearly decided they didn't want to be held up, and went tearing past me (you'd think it was prettly bleeding obvious what happened, given teh flashing lights and there were bits of smashed up pallet all over the road)...
Opened the door maybe ten inches and BANG! he caught his wing mirror on my door, ripping the whole unit off his car, probably did some damage to his door too, but he didn't hang around.. he was off!
Not only impatient, but also passing the scene of an accident with less than a foot gap between thier car and mine... I didn't really mind as my car was ****** anyway, but it would have been an expensive morning for him, all for the sake of saving a few mins...crazy!
Well it's not helpful that Google Maps still routes vehicles through the ford.
Also add to list under-trays, trim and bumpers ripped off even in a couple of inches if you are going quick enough. Just not worth it on so many levels.
Defo this. I hit some standing water last year, during a period of constant deluge, that was in hindsight probably 4 or 5 inches deep. Ford Kuga. Probably 35-40 mph. Ripped one of the plastic under-tray half off. Total PITA as I had to get under the car by the side of the road, in the dark, pishing down, and try to get it sufficiently back in place that I could limp the 3 miles home and then fix it properly the next day in daylight.