Had to drive through 3 floods this morning

[Welly]

Nervously I *crawled* through 3 road floods this morning (low air intake alert)

Water was about 6 inches deep and over the curb height in places

I went through the slowest out of anyone, bet they thought I was a right wimp

One impatient (late) woman in front of me in a Zafira *went for it* and created a huge bow wave which smothered the bonnet of a D8 Taxi patiently waiting on the other side. He as not best pleased.

My (new) journey to work of 18mins took 1hr 5mins

Anyone else had probems?

[DaiRees]

I had 20 mins of weather related delays on a 15 min journey yesterday, but this morning I lost half hour due to an accident, nothing to do with the weather though, a 206 had decided to drive into the crash barrier and rip a whole front left corner off the car!

[steve_earwig]

Anyone else had probems?

No, can't say I have

The Zafira has masses of ground clearance - my dad has one, if it wasn't for the rock-solid suspension and the surprisingly huge A-pillar blind spots it would be a very good car.

Anyway, young Welton me lad, you done right - stuff what anyone else thinks, you go at a pace you feel comfortable with - if they want to go charging through and maybe get gearbox full of water or a bent con rod, let 'em.

[teamster1975]

Anyway, young Welton me lad, you done right - stuff what anyone else thinks, you go at a pace you feel comfortable with - if they want to go charging through and maybe get gearbox full of water or a bent con rod, let 'em.

Happenned to me last year
I crawled through a stretch of flooded road which other cars had made ok and the car died half way through. On inspection the air intake hose was flapping around near the bottom of the bumper, how it had ended up there god knows. I took off the airbox hose & a gallon of water gushed out thinking oh feck
I had to join the RAC on the spot for £120, wait 5 hours for a pickup (which gave my trousers time to dry out!) and then be told that I could only be taken 10 miles as I had just taken out cover It would cost me another £100 to be taken the additional 5 miles to Woking
I got a tow from a mate which was the scariest drive of my life! Most of it downhill and lots of twisties with no power steering or power brakes

Moral: Check to see the hose is in it's proper place!!!!!!!!
Or don't go out when it's raining!

[mjb]

I got a tow from a mate which was the scariest drive of my life! Most of it downhill and lots of twisties with no power steering or power brakes

Solid towbars are brilliant. They can be awkward to fit, but there's no jerking/snapping and best of all the towing car can brake for both vehicles

[steve_earwig]

Hopefully not the sort we used to use at work, a tube with an eye at each end. I always wondered what would happen if the tow car had to brake suddenly but the guy in the tow car wasn't concentrating, would he try to overtake?

[Welly]

I've been towed by one of those 'car accessory shop' solid bars before.

It was alright, much better than rope but you look like one serious mother of a tail gaitor

[steve_earwig]

I hate towing and I hate being towed, I always seem to end up doing it though, usually junk I've bought for peanuts. When I was a teenager my dad got a brace of ex-RAF Corset estates from BCA. They came without number plates or anything but we didn't want to leave them there, so the wise old one thought it would be ok if we towed them one at a time, but not actually towed as such as the Corsets ran. So there I was driving about 8 feet behind him with a bit of string in between - not such a good idea dad.

Two favourites have to be pedestrians trying to cross the road in between the two cars and idiots, regardless of any sign, overtaking, running out of road and trying to squeeze in.

[mjb]

Hopefully not the sort we used to use at work, a tube with an eye at each end. I always wondered what would happen if the tow car had to brake suddenly but the guy in the tow car wasn't concentrating, would he try to overtake?

Shouldn't happen unless the angle of the bar is more than about 30 degrees from perpendicular (and it will of course naturally be wanting to stay perpendicular, so it would take conscious effort from the towee to put it like that) at which point the force of the towed car will be trying to force the towing car's back wheels sidewards.

Besides, unless you're a muppet you don't stamp on the brakes while towing because you're acutely aware that you've got a 1t+ lump of metal behind you without assisted brakes or steering. I find myself really concentrating hard on everything that's going on up to a long long way ahead, give bends and potential hazards a huge berth and gain superhuman patience when trying to pull out onto roundabouts, etc.

Worst thing I find is when accelerating onto a roundabout I get worried about the soundness of the towing eye fixings. The tubby's got a lot of torque you know

[Welly]

My collegue has towed me before when we've rescued one of our decrepid vans although he thinks it's good to tow fast at around 40 MPH in a 30 scary stuff.

He complained last time when, without his knowing, I arranged a recovery truck to pick a van up to save me the stress

[TooT]

On my 5 minute walk to work there was one or two puddles but my journey time stayed the same

[teamster1975]

I got a tow from a mate which was the scariest drive of my life! Most of it downhill and lots of twisties with no power steering or power brakes

Solid towbars are brilliant. They can be awkward to fit, but there's no jerking/snapping and best of all the towing car can brake for both vehicles

I wish I'd had one! My mate did a good job though, I've lost count of the number of times he's rescued one or other of us with broken bikes or cars with his pickup

[darrenwall]

One impatient (late) woman in front of me in a Zafira *went for it* and created a huge bow wave which smothered the bonnet of a D8 Taxi patiently waiting on the other side. He as not best pleased.

being a bus driver thats my favourite thing to do when driving thro a flood especially the people who drive with their windows open while having a fag so the smoke blows out , iv never hung around long enough to see the mess inside someones car after my bus has sent a 6ft bow wave crashing over the roof and thro the open window

[mjb]

being a bus driver thats my favourite thing to do when driving thro a flood especially the people who drive with their windows open while having a fag so the smoke blows out , iv never hung around long enough to see the mess inside someones car after my bus has sent a 6ft bow wave crashing over the roof and thro the open window

I pray that when that situation arises for me, my drivers window doesn't do its usual trick of getting almost closed then lowering itself right down

If someone DID do that to me and obviously knew what they were doing, i'd do a sharpish U-turn and get the f*cker. Overtake, get on the bus at the next stop and get a photo of the sod to report to the coppers. Driving without due care and attention is one the coppers can charge for, and i'd look to personally claim on the bus company's insurance for a new interior or sue for willful destruction of property if such a law exists this side of the pacific.

[teamster1975]

being a bus driver thats my favourite thing to do when driving thro a flood especially the people who drive with their windows open while having a fag so the smoke blows out , iv never hung around long enough to see the mess inside someones car after my bus has sent a 6ft bow wave crashing over the roof and thro the open window

I pray that when that situation arises for me, my drivers window doesn't do its usual trick of getting almost closed then lowering itself right down

If someone DID do that to me and obviously knew what they were doing, i'd do a sharpish U-turn and get the f*cker. Overtake, get on the bus at the next stop and get a photo of the sod to report to the coppers. Driving without due care and attention is one the coppers can charge for, and i'd look to personally claim on the bus company's insurance for a new interior or sue for willful destruction of property if such a law exists this side of the pacific.

It's quite an experience on a bike too
I swear the bastards aim for the puddles