If It's Flooded, Forget It

I recall trying to get home during heavy rain & pulled up short of our house by about 100 meters with the creek a raging brown torrent in front of us.

I sat there a while with the engine running & noticed the Missus taking off her seat belt and winding down the window. I asked what's that all about? And she told me it was in case the car got swept away & we needed to get out quickly.

What the???

I informed her I wasn't sitting here thinking of trying to cross. I was sitting here thinking which place we would be staying at tonight.

I still laugh when I think about it.

Cheers - Wayne

Sounds like the Mrs is on the ball there mate. lol, just another reason I chose a poverty pack 4wd with manual windows and manual door locks. Not that I would even consider a crossing in a swollen ,fast flowing creek with my family in the car.

cheers Unc

Wayne

Good post,

Not singling you out as I often hear people say this, but taking a seat belt off just in case is not a good move.

Open window is a good idea.

But...

A seat belt should be seen as PPE (personal protection equipment), it should be on when the vehicle is moving, (as per road rules). If its gazetted, it is a road and seatbelts are a requirement.

A vehicle roll could place a body half inside and half outside as it rolls, or in the back seat or just jammed in somewhere.
Hitting something could bounce her out of her seat into the dash, windscreen or even you, a clash of heads will make escape less likely.

Trying to escape a moving vehicle fraught with danger, for many obvious reasons.

Stay in the vehicle with the seatbelt on until it stops then escape, even if upside down.

Best of all, like everyone has said, don't put yourself in the position.

rollover demo

Opps wrong link,

I know that this is not in water, but I believe that would be worse.

Craig - It irks me a bit - But it has become apparent a lot of people do not know how & when to cross flooded causeways/creeks. So those that have learned to do so no longer can make their own choice.

I used to have to put up the road closed signs. Most of the time they were up for work purpose when I could I would cross or drive on the closed road. Never unsafely.

I have been stuck at Iron range for a few days with the road was closed by National Parks, but we came in to Iron Range when it was a lot worse & could of got out safely.

When we went out finally after it was open it was a graded highway, they closed it for convenience. That irks me :-)

I have seen many a road closed for no real reason in the gulf and lately it seems they close the roads longer and longer so you can not get into Lakefield National Park, once again only for convenience.

Cheers Tony

I agree with you guys
Its a case of "you will not make your own decisions anymore. We will make them for you and dont necessarily expect a reason"

A jail term (considering the lack of info on a reason for them wanting to cross) is stupid.
Was the deceased forced to cross in the vehicle against his will?

I heard the bloke who owns the pub at Olary on the radio today. He was saying the road west of Broken Hill is still closed because the bridge at Cockburn is stuffed again from last weeks floods, but it's possible to push a bypass around the bridge and no one's doing anything to get the traffic moving.

Anyone driving from Sydney to Adelaide/Perth has to go down through Shepparton to get through.

They're all too busy putting up road closed signs everywhere to do any roadworks.

Steve