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Any - Rufford Ford strikes again - craig-pd130

The latest video from Rufford Ford shows that the water level is around 1.75 feet, which is claiming a lot of victims.

I wonder what the annual total cost of damages to vehicles is as a result of drivers hydrolocking engines? The daft thing is, the detour that avoids the ford completely is only 3 miles.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jXYWzNDsR8

Any - Rufford Ford strikes again - Xileno

Huge I would think. Shame about the Audi, looked nice for quite an old car. A 57 reg think I saw.

See how the blue Fiesta abruptly comes to a halt. Definitely swallowed a good amount of water into the cylinders. But it can be done with care, the MINI driver knew how to do it.

Any - Rufford Ford strikes again - corax

It's one thing getting stuck in a ford, but it makes it worse when there is an audience and you're on camera.

The Audi is another victim of the 'bow wave' brigade.

Any - Rufford Ford strikes again - groaver

I cannot believe the number of drivers who do not know how to drive through standing water such as this Ford.

Any - Rufford Ford strikes again - edlithgow

I cannot believe the number of drivers who do not know how to drive through standing water such as this Ford.

Seems fairly believable to me. Up until typhoon Morakot I can’t remember driving through much standing water to acquire the experience, then suddenly I had a lot more experience than I wanted.

Any - Rufford Ford strikes again - galileo

Huge I would think. Shame about the Audi, looked nice for quite an old car. A 57 reg think I saw.

See how the blue Fiesta abruptly comes to a halt. Definitely swallowed a good amount of water into the cylinders. But it can be done with care, the MINI driver knew how to do it.

I noticed that while being towed the rear wheels were locked and sliding, clearly too stupid to put it in neutral and/or take the handbrake off.

Some say that AUDI is anacronym for Another Useless Driver Inside. (not applicable to members of this forum, of course!)

Any - Rufford Ford strikes again - Xileno

I assumed the car had an EPB and the water had messed it up. I would think potentially needing two new tyres is the least of the owner's concerns...

Any - Rufford Ford strikes again - galileo

I assumed the car had an EPB and the water had messed it up. I would think potentially needing two new tyres is the least of the owner's concerns...

EPB locked on by water does seem likely, (there is another clip of a new BMW with locked rears being dragged out.)

Just another argument for keeping things simple, I never heard anyone wishing their handbrake could be replaced by a switch before these gadgets were invented.

Any - Rufford Ford strikes again - John Boy

Groaver said "I cannot believe the number of drivers who do not know how to drive through standing water such as this Ford."

If you post your registration, Groaver, you could show us how to do it."

Any - Rufford Ford strikes again - badbusdriver

Frankly, I'm struggling to comprehend the amount of people stupid enough to try driving through deep water (rather than take the 3 mile detour) regardless of whether they know how to minimise the risk. And I do mean minimise, because on a modern low slung car there is no risk free way to drive through nearly two foot of water.

But as well as that, I'm also amazed at how many 'spectators' there are. Do these people really have nothing better to do with their lives?.

Any - Rufford Ford strikes again - groaver

What do you mean, JB?

Edited by groaver on 24/10/2022 at 19:05

Any - Rufford Ford strikes again - John Boy

I was hoping for a video demonstration. Sadly, they mainly seem to film the failures.

Any - Rufford Ford strikes again - groaver

Right

A bit of a journey for me.

I'd take a look at the level and if more than 6/7 inches, I'd take the detour.

Some of the other videos occasionally show someone doing it correctly.

Slowly into shallow water creating a small 'bow wave' that you carefully chase behind rather than speeding up to overtake it.

Certainly not approaching at warp factor 9 and wondering why the car conks out when the water clears the roof nevermind the bonnet!!

Any - Rufford Ford strikes again - bazza

That's right, more than 6 inches deep max and forget it, just not worth the risk. There are plenty of other clips of even SUVs getting swamped let alone the low slung Audis, BMWs etc. The modern car is stuffed with electrical gear, much of it low down, some underneath even, and air intakes are also only around the grill area, I can't believe how dull those drivers are to actually believe their car can seriously be expected to drive through nearly 2 ft of water! There's even a gauge there telling you the depth and a crowd of onlookers with cameras must be a bit of a clue, surely! Very expensive gamble, do insurers pay out for the subsequent write-off, bearing in mind carelessness?

Any - Rufford Ford strikes again - Cris_on_the_gas

Great machine control from the KTM rider !

What was the weight of the pickup and trailer with 11 tonne bags on the trailer ?

Any - Rufford Ford strikes again - John Boy

I've driven through a flood only once, simply because I didn't see it. I'd been along the road earlier in the day in bright sunshine. In the evening there was a really spectacular thunderstorm, so we delayed our return till around midnight when it was over. I spotted a stationary car on the other side of the road and we were immediately pushing a wall of water along. We weren't going very fast, so just kept going to the other side. The stationary car obviously hadn't. I felt very lucky - small car (Agila B), small wheels, no after effects. In retrospect, I think I did what Groaver suggests because there was no alternative.

I think it was just to the west of the filling station in Atworth, Wiltshire where there seems to be a dip in the road.

Any - Rufford Ford strikes again - Xileno

Yes, I know it well. Only a few miles away from me, I think the drainage has been improved in recent years.

Any - Rufford Ford strikes again - Steveieb

Owners of Toyota Prius and other hybrid and electric cars were left stranded in the recent floods in Florida.

The batteries just short circuited when they hit the water. No wonder the Ford Pickup is the US s favourite vehicle!

Any - Rufford Ford strikes again - John Boy

It was on September 18th 2014. There was a lightning strike in Melksham that evening.

Edited by John Boy on 25/10/2022 at 20:53

Any - Rufford Ford strikes again - NottsGuy

I'm a local and everyone round here knows it's a car killer and take the other route. It used to be a really quiet road until the YouTubers turned up. Now it's just dangerous. It attracts every i**** in the country to come and try their luck. It's crazy, but people actually drive for hours just to go through the ford. When the car park is full, they park on the road blocking the pavement and turning it into a single lane in places. All too often, some poor drivers don't realise just how dangerous the ford is when they arrive after some rain because people take the Road Closed signs down just so they can watch other people kill their cars!

I don't know anyone locally who is stupid enough to go through there any more unless it's during the summer. Apart from the obvious risk of crossing a ford, it's not unusual to see a car driving through when an i**** will come flying round the corner towards them trying to make a huge splash to make sure they get shown on YouTube. You may be keeping the bow wave in front of your bonnet but once the tidal wave from their car hits, it's over the top and into the air intake. What they don't show on those videos is the tyre damage to cars. At times, the bottom of the ford is littered with bits of sharp plastic and metal that once formed a part of someone else's car. The guy who comes to do my tyres is regularly called out to Rufford.

It's fine in the summer. The water's low and there isn't too much debris. I just can't understand why people want to risk their car when the water level is high.

Since the YouTube videos went viral and it started getting busy, the Council have started looking at possible safety changes. They've told the police to start doing something about it and they're looking into a few options to make it safer. I'm told that there's been talk of barrier gates being fitted or cameras put up to send fines out to drivers. My guess is that as gates cost money and cameras make money, they put cameras up.

Any - Rufford Ford strikes again - craig-pd130

They've told the police to start doing something about it and they're looking into a few options to make it safer. I'm told that there's been talk of barrier gates being fitted or cameras put up to send fines out to drivers. My guess is that as gates cost money and cameras make money, they put cameras up.

Quite a few of the videos show police cars parked up at the side of the road, and chasing after drivers who do not go through in the manner expected of a careful and competent driver ...

Any - Rufford Ford strikes again - bathtub tom

I did admire the driver that went through backwards, but wouldn't that risk ramming water up the exhaust?

Any - Rufford Ford strikes again - Xileno

I guess if you're in a manual car you could keep the revs high and just use the clutch to control the car's speed. All a bit silly and avoidable.

Three miles away from me in Staverton flood gates have been installed to stop drivers getting stuck when the river floods. The 'Road Closed' signs were not sufficient for some!

Any - Rufford Ford strikes again - Manatee

Twits. Nearly all those people are doing it for 'fun'. It's not a long diversion to avoid it.

Any - Rufford Ford strikes again - daveyK_UK
My friend tells me he has driven through it in the summer, it was nothing at all like it appears in the video, far shallower and no crowds.

I’m interested in finding out if the insurance company pays out?
All it takes is the insurance firm to get the drivers location of the claim and check YouTube?

As a lay person, I would not take a standard hatchback through a foot or more of water, let alone 2-3 foot.
Surely that’s self inflicted vandalism to your car? Is it arguably wilful destruction?



Any - Rufford Ford strikes again - primus 1

There’s a new video posted today showing the farmer clearing weed/debris from the river, the water level is much lower, barely a large puddle.

Any - Rufford Ford strikes again - focussed

www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-norfolk-55440300

A not quite so amusing example of getting your car caught in a flood, from two years ago. I used to live about 5 miles away from there and had driven under that railway bridge hundreds of times before we moved to France. It's been flooding at times of heavy rain like that for getting on for thirty years to my knowledge, and nothing gets done about it.

Any - Rufford Ford strikes again - Andrew-T

It's been flooding at times of heavy rain like that for getting on for thirty years to my knowledge, and nothing gets done about it.

What's your suggestion - pumps ?

Any - Rufford Ford strikes again - skidpan

When I was competing in night rallies/road rallies in the late 70's (as navigator) Rufford Ford was used on quite a few and cars did suffer at times. One chap in a Van Den Plas 1100 (as surprisingly adequate car) bent all 4 rods when the cylinders filled with water. We used a Beetle 1200 and never had an issue (other than outright speed).

A road that passed under the Midland Main line near us used to suffer from frequent flooding since the road was dipped under the railway and there was a river nearby. When they upgraded the road to dual carriageway they actually raised the railway (must have cost a fortune) but that was only partially successful, was still flooding but not as severely or as frequently as before.

Any - Rufford Ford strikes again - focussed

I've no idea - I'm not a civil engineer.

I suspect there could be one of those typically british situations, the councli blames the railway company and vice versa - so nothing gets done, until some poor s0d gets drowned as nearly happened in the video I linked to.

Edited by focussed on 06/11/2022 at 18:48

Any - Rufford Ford strikes again - focussed

What's your suggestion - pumps ?

I've no idea - I'm not a civil engineer.

I suspect there could be one of those typically british situations, the councli blames the railway company and vice versa - so nothing gets done, until some poor s0d gets drowned as nearly happened in the video I linked to.

Any - Rufford Ford strikes again - bathtub tom

There's a ditch beside an 'A' road near me. I reported that it was blocked and water was overflowing onto the road. Nothing was done. It froze and a car slid on the ice into a bus, resulting in a fatality. It's kept clear now.

Any - Rufford Ford strikes again - Adampr

Given that this particular bridge is near the Broads, but not in the flood zone, I would suggest that there is a road gully leading to a pipe heading towards the nearest river. The pipe or gully is probably blocked and needs to be cleared frequently. It's possible that the road under the bridge is slightly lower than at either end to create more headroom, meaning both ends of the road drain towards it and keeping it clear is absolutely vital...

Any - Rufford Ford strikes again - Adampr

With all apologies for being a nerd, you can see the situation here:

houseprices.io/lidar/TG2835610369/3d

The road has been reduced in level to keep the railway flat. That has created a massive bowl into which a lot of rainwater is going. This being Norfolk, and mud, the percolation into the soil is next to nothing.

Looking at Streetview, there doesn't appear to be any drainage at all under the bridge.

goo.gl/maps/y5nQ6MbAUdTxAthF9

So, yes, either pump it or build a bridge over the railway, just as they did not far to the north.

Any - Rufford Ford strikes again - corax

Looks like Rufford Ford is closed.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgWMTp5M5w0