Flooding - People Are Sooooooooo..............

Some people should just get their licenses revoked! Seriously.
And if someone has to be rescued for doing a pinheaded thing, they ought to be fined.
There's my mini rant :)

headlights are always on in the rain, torrential or not. I would not try to make it through a flooded area. there is a small town near where I live and it floods ALL THE TIME, I MEAN ALL THE TIME! and I have heard, several times, of people thinking they can drive through, even in big trucks etc, and the car getting swept away,a girl I work with had a friend who died trying to do this. I dont go out in the super bad rain unless there is no way around it.

i'm with you, people are stoooooooooopid!

Rain? What's that? I forget what rain looks like and smells like.

But yes, a year ago when it used to downpour here, I ALWAYS drove with my headlights on. I never drove thru flooded water. I'd find another route.

Here in Austin they had to come up with a reminder.. If there is water on a bridge or a road you are unsure of.. "Turn around and don't drown"

So many people think they can drive through water and it only takes a few inches for it to lift some cars and carry them away..

FYI, I always drive with my headlights on.. People never seem to see me.

I'm with you... in the past, WAY PAST, when we had rain in TX.... people can be STUPID.

I am also one who drives with the lights on because no matter what, even in broad daylight, they can't seem to SEE me and almost hit me multiple times on the freeway or regular side road that is 6 lane.... GEESH

I am a horn blowing, lights on high mama driving safely in my sports car and if it is raining, I am probably not out in it unless I absolutely have to be.

People can be STUPID in ALL weather, most especially in rain swelled flash floods and ICE.

OMG They are EVERYWHERE! Someone needs to do a study that correlates this type of behaviour and the downfall of a society. My sympathies!

Jess - after 4 days of non-stop, sure wish we could send you the rain! I think my back yard just floated 2 doors over.

Cheryl - I hate the people who think a traffic light that's lost power and not working means no one has to stop! In DC!!!

We just had 4 days of Tropical Storm Lee, the same rain you have now, and people here do the same thing. I ran errands early Saturday morning before things got bad, needed pet food and sand bags, then parked the vehicle and did not move it again until Monday afternoon.

I am always amazed by people who plow through flooded streets, decide to go see how much water and sand are on the beach road, and drive through water logged areas, then they wonder how on earth they got stuck or flooded out. And these are people who live below sea level in a coastal area - really, I would think they would know better.

Oosh, there will always be people who don't heed the warnings and think they are invincible.

Oh, and I put my headlights on all the the time. I like to be visible to the crazies who are driving along side me.

I WANT some of your rain!!!

Around here there are flood zones where water runs across the road and as little as 4" of running water can push your car off the road.

So no I do not drive into water on the road or running across the road. But every time it rains...people drive into the water thinking that they can make it. They even drive around barricades. Then we watch on the news as firefighters risk their own lives to save them from the tops of their cars. It is now against the law here to drive into running water and the city will ticket you and make you reimburse the city the cost of your "rescue".

We live where hardly rains, so when the washes or freeway underpasses get full, you always have the idiots that think they are super heroes & get through what no one else can. Luckily, if someone has to be rescued because of their stupidity, they have to pay the bill.

We have a water drainage thing right behind out house and my daughter looked out the window and asked me if it's going to over flow and if our house would float away,lol! I told her I don't think it will over flow and no our house wouldn't float away. Yes, I had my head lights on when I went out to pick her up from school today (I need to check to make sure I turned them off actually). No I wouldn't drive through a huge flood. That would just be stupid. Stay safe!

The law in VA is if you have your windshield wipers on fully - not on intermittent - then you need to have on your lights. If I only need the wipers once in a while I will not put on my lights, unless I think the other drivers cannot see me due to fog or spray from other cars. I don't try to go through water unless I KNOW I can make it. I've lost 2 cars before - just from having them parked in front of my house during a downpour, and I've seen cars attempt to go through standing water and begin floating half way through! Finally, the city has cleaned out our storm drains, and we no longer flood in the street.

I haven't read any other post. But in Missouri...if your wipers are on your headlights have to be on.

Breath in breath out! Deep breaths sweetie.

In VA it's state law that you have your headlights on when it's raining so they are STOOOOOOPID!!! :) Fortunately, my car has auto lights so at least the running lights are on at all times. And still people run out in front of me! LOL

I want your rain!!! It was 106 degrees where I worked today. Yes though, my lights are always on...and I mean they are set to stay on in my company car even if I don't have an obstacle course for my day.

I always have my lights on in the rain, I have a grey car ya know? So said car is a CRV, I get to the point where the creek decided the pipe underneath the road is insufficient so now it is going a good foot and a half over the road. I size it up and decide to go but not before some two door spec decides to go and stall out. He looked really shocked, I was laughing, thankfully there was enough room for me to get by him. :p

I really think insurance companies should be allowed to decline claims is idiocy beyond a specific level is used. Such as in this case if a 4 wheel drive vehicle thinks it may not be a good idea.....

Yeah, Darwin needs to work harder.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Rachel is still getting it now 10:30pm and it has finally subsided here.
The weather channel says we got .58 inches. Where are they getting their information?? Not my backyard!!! I have a sterilite sitting outside and it is full to the brim!! We only put it out two days ago.

This is my proposal. We have pipelines that carry gas from Alaska. Why not have a pipeline to carry water from the hurricane laden states and WA to the states that routinely have droughts and fires? It's a rhetorical question, I know it will never happen.
There was a freaking frog the size of my hand on my porch this evening too.

Oh adn to answer the questions
Yes I drive with my headlights on, we have daytime running lights.
No I do not try to make my van swim or climb downed trees.

I know what you mean - it's been crazy here!! I agree with the headlight thing - seems easy enough to turn them on. But to play devil's advocate about WHY people are out in the first place - I think a lot of people were trying to make it home from work or wherever. I was out running errands around noon and it was pouring, but no flooding really. Then when I was waiting at the bus stop for my kids at 3:45pm a few of the other moms were saying it took them over an hour to get home (from a store 10 minutes away) because of roads being closed. As much as I don't want schools to be closed tomorrow, it's a good thing they are!

Lights? Absolutely.
Drive through standing or running water? Not more than a couple of inches. Anything more is looking to be washed away.

I drive with automatic daytime running lights and turn the headlights on when necessary. And I saw the Reston commuter lot photos. Yeah....those drivers need a new way home.

Am in Maryland. Luckily we live on higher ground. But I was out with a client and had to drive back in the crazy rain. I also always drive with my headlights on. I never go into areas with deep or standing water. My friend who is an EMT, says that the crazy people are her job security!
I have the same annoyance during the winter when people go out who do not know how to drive in the snow. Being a northerner who is used to feet of snow, I do know how to drive in it and wish people would stay home when the weather turns hazardous!

Updated

Am in Maryland. Luckily we live on higher ground. But I was out with a client and had to drive back in the crazy rain. I also always drive with my headlights on. I never go into areas with deep or standing water. My friend who is an EMT, says that the crazy people are her job security!
I have the same annoyance during the winter when people go out who do not know how to drive in the snow. Being a northerner who is used to feet of snow, I do know how to drive in it and wish people would stay home when the weather turns hazardous!

I always have my headlights on, I'm actually OCD about it, check, check again, and again and again....! My husband and I laugh about it.

We've been experiencing the torrential downpours up here in eastern PA too. I've never seen it rain so hard for so long! Most roads were closed last night and again today and schools in the area were closed. I think it's time to google how to build an ark! LOL!

Haha! Sorry it's so bad there, but I turn my headlights on any time it is not bright and sunny. Overcast? On. Spotty clouds so the sun isn't 100%? On. Rain? On. End of the day? On.

Any time I notice that I see someone else better with headlights I turn them on. I don't have daytime running lights, but they're not the same as headlights anyway. I HATE when people do not use headlights in the rain. Not to mention it is a state law here that headlights MUST be on when "wipers are in use." That's my cranky driver snapping point--furiously moving wipers and no headlights. People seriously want me to hit them I think.

It might not be your lights, but I'd bet that some people have trouble seeing some cars cause they are BLINDED by the stoopid headlights (and some daytime ones, too) on some vehicles nowadays! Pity if you're in a regular car and a large SUV or pickup has those things on....!!

Wipers on - lights on!
Also lights on low beam if foggy!