Skip to main content

Deep clean

An impatient motorist in the UK recently learned a valuable lesson about paying closer attention to road conditions. Following intense rainfall, traffic on a short section of a busy road in South London came to a halt. Beeping his horn furiously as he negotiated a BMW estate car (station wagon) and a bus that were attempting to deviate to another route, the driver of the Vauxhall ploughed straight ahead. However he soon discovered to his dismay that the stretch of water the other vehicles were trying to avo
August 23, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
An impatient motorist in the UK recently learned a valuable lesson about paying closer attention to road conditions. Following intense rainfall, traffic on a short section of a busy road in South London came to a halt. Beeping his horn furiously as he negotiated a BMW estate car (station wagon) and a bus that were attempting to deviate to another route, the driver of the Vauxhall ploughed straight ahead. However he soon discovered to his dismay that the stretch of water the other vehicles were trying to avoid was somewhat deeper than he had anticipated. Video footage showed the vehicle plunging into the flood, before floating away with its engine compartment hanging low in the water while onlookers hooted with derision at his foolishness. The driver and his passengers were able to escape unharmed physically, but rather wet.

Related Content

  • Road user charging, the way to highway investment?
    April 12, 2012
    Tough political decisions have to be made to ensure highway investment - *Dr Max Lay reports Our road systems and how we use them have changed dramatically over the last few centuries, and yet some problems persist and others reappear. For most of human history roads have been used by foot traffic and by cumbersome wagons hauled at walking pace. Roads were built to provide some obvious advantage in commerce or conquest. They were then grudgingly maintained by those who might gain some advantage from the
  • Bent sportscars
    May 24, 2013
    The Japanese authorities are investigating a crash that involved a large number of expensive sportscars last year. Six people were injured in thecrash although luckily there were no fatalities. The incident resulted in damage costing some US$4 million and involved 10 high performance cars, as well as one rather more conventional vehicle. Footage of the incident shot afterwards showed the damaged Ferraris lying along the highway, with broken body panels strewn across the roadway.
  • Eight lives left
    February 19, 2014
    A van driver using a busy motorway in the UK was surprised when several other motorists flashed their headlights at her. She soon discovered however that there was reason for their behaviour as the other drivers had spotted a cat clinging to the roof of her vehicle.
  • Video evidence
    July 19, 2012
    A man in Leeds has been described by the authorities as the UK city's most stupid criminal, after posting 80 videos on the Internet involving a range of vehicle-related offences. One of the video clips showed the man recording the speed of a vehicle in which he was a passenger. It hit speeds of over 224km/h (140mph), double the maximum allowable speed limit on the UK's fastest roads. The man also recorded clips of the car in which he was a passenger when racing other vehicles, driving away from a petrol fil