Why do drivers drive through flooded roads ignoring the road closed signs

Some signage is very misleading, it can be put in the wrong place or not taken away when the problem has been resolved, so it ends up not being taken seriously.

But I think a big issue is the increased reliance on Sat Nav and just going where it tells you to, without any need to actually read signposts etc. I think some people have got out of the habit of using their initiative, and blindly "take the first left" even if there is a puddle the size of Windermere in the way.

Ha ha! Love it!

Same here. There are some roads that do flood quite frequently and the council just leave the signs there, I presume because it's too much trouble to keep putting them out and collecting them. The effect is that you don't know whether the road is genuinely flooded or not and have to make your own assessment of the situation. Other times there are roads that really should be closed that get ignored. This Winter I have encountered both roads covered with warning signs that I didn't think twice about cycling through, and others with no warnings that I wouldn't have attempted in my SUV. It's completely inconsistent so not really surprising people get it wrong sometimes.
It's the same with roadworks - signs get left for weeks sometimes. There has been a lot of work on different roads near my house recently and if I didn't drive through any of the road closed signs I'd have been housebound for at least the last fortnight.

I have two fun stories about floods:

many years ago I was driving an old MGB roadster and approached a ford in a village which looked a bit deep - I went in gently and decided that it wouldn't make it - so I reversed out and turned around... days pre-sat nav, so I sat in my car with the roof down (sunny day) to look at a map...

a few minutes later the noise of a fast car approaching from the other side of the ford, a sort of hissing noise and then silence... I turned around and looked up - a modern convertible Saab (also roof down!) was sitting in the middle of the ford, water over its bonnet, with a faint steam rising from around it... the chap driving stood up in the driver's seat looked at my wet tyre marks as I had driven back out of the ford, and yelled at me: "If you could get that old thing through, how come mine didn't make it!"

*
in 2007 there were lots of floods across the Cotswolds, I had then an old range rover and had been driving it through the floods quite happily and had popped over to friends to help them with their flooded house... for entertainment I then parked it up on a local small bridge over the Thames (quite small river at this point - where the road the other side had flooded for about 1/2 a mile - historically they were water meadows either side designed to flood...) to watch local traffic... three fun interactions:

Brand new Land Rover Discovery turned up - couple in their mid 40s smartly dressed - the chap driving put the window down and asked me what his chances were of getting through - I told him: your car will have no problem, how confident are you at driving through water? he answered - about 8/10 whereupon his wife leaned over and hissed at him: 2 out of 10, 2 out of 10! They turned around and went another way...

Then a brand new range rover turned up smartly dressed chap in his 50s with young teenage son next to him - very similar conversation, but in response to being asked his confidence, he simply pressed some buttons, the car lifted up another inch or so and he confidently drove through...

Finally a BMW x5 with a group aiming to get to a wedding up north... again, the same conversation, but the reply this time was: well it is a 4x4, no point owning it if it can only cope with puddles... and he drove off into the flood and around the corner...

an hour or so later, getting bored, I went home and as I gently drove through the floods and around the first corner - there was the BMW x5 - completely stuck, engine totally dead. It turns out that the engine air intake is at the same level as the spoiler at the front bottom of the car (amazed it even copes with puddles!), so it had hoovered up the water and hydro-locked the engine - one dead engine, one dead car. The owner had phoned BMW assist, but couldn't give them a postcode and his answer of 'just over the Thames, between two fields and in a flood was apparently not accurate enough for recovery to come out to him... They kept asking him to press the BMW assist button on the dashboard, but for some reason no electronics were working in the car! So I towed him back to my house - he left the keys for BMW assist to collect the car later that week, and I dropped them all back into town to pick up a hire car (and go a different route to the wedding!)

amusing stories, but neatly sum up confidence / ability / car's capability... there is no one answer fits all scenarios - but in the right car with the right knowledge, it is surprising how much water you can drive through...

Yeah i drove through one last week as it hadn’t been taken down on time.

It's staggering how many d9nt cons8der the damage they cause if the flooding is due to a river or lake overflowing onto the road.

£100k?! And she’s done it before. Wish I had her money!!

This. We often have flood signs up year round, so we just check the flood maps before setting off or pay attention to the weather to know if a road is really flooded or not.

The building where I work is built on marshland
This is very well known
The carpark is split into three parts and one part floods at the first sight of rain
Im amazed at how many people drive into the water-its there and very visible (and deep)
My colleague pointed out its always men (shes right) and only about half are 'big' cars
They try to go flying round and some get stuck-its sheer stupidly
Some do come in and try to have a go at us when they get stuck (like its our fault)
When its not flooded they do 'doughnuts' around it and more than one has crashed into the lampposts

About a mile down the road,there is a street that has a reputation for flooding
Doesn't stop people (normally men)from driving straight into the water and getting stuck-the water is there,its well signposted and known for it

I swear there is something missing in their brains

Maybe somebody told them to dip their headlights?

Because Forrest Gump was right - stupid is as stupid does.

Because obeying the sign often causes a load of hassle and they think they can make it/that often the signs are put up over cautiously.

Especially if they are in an SUV, even though it may be not a "proper" off road SUV they still think the extra height will give them an advantage.

I don’t know. But my moron friend did this and wrote off her £100k car. 🙄 No insurance pay out and not the first time it’s happened to her.

People drive into floods to provide entertainment for the locals who actually know how much water is there. Loads of it around here, FaceAche is full of posts about is this road really flooded, can I get through, best advice is "try it and let us know if you can".

even if your car can get through, by driving you are pushing more water out to the sides which does further damage to any houses/buildings at the side of the road. if the road is closed it has been assessed as not safe to be used.

You are not necessarily an idiot if you know what you are doing - a flood could be 4ft deep and full of debris, or it could simply be water covering the road to only a few inches - local context obviously gives much better knowledge than keyboard warriors online ;)

you are breaking the law if you go through a road that has been formally closed - but a red sign with white text saying something like road closed - flood is a) an advisory sign and b) doesn't formally close the road - to formally close the road you need a traffic order which includes things such as a two week warning period ahead of the closure date...

Is it stupid to drive through - depends on person / car / context
Is it illegal to drive through - unlikely, but if you end up in trouble you going to look pretty stupid...

We have an area in my wider location like this - a river floods the road. There are a lot of people up in arms as this river is protected and they want this road closed due to the pollution it causes as people go there specifically to drive through it. Regularly. It is a real problem. I wish their cars would die but unfortunately the people who do this have large 4 wheel drives and they get through no problem. It is signposted but is still technically a road, even though it goes through the river, so obviously there’s going to be some water anyway but after rain/flooding it becomes impassable (in theory), but this is when this particular “cohort” want to drive through it. Those who do say it’s their right to do so as it is a road. Which is true. But they’re not using it as a to b access. Anyone locally would avoid the road when it’s flooded, yet those who come to drive through it for funsies increases hugely so they’re definitely not using it because they have to.

Because a lot of drivers are stupid.

we have a few roads that flood around us.
The road closed and flood warning signs sometimes go up in October and stay all winter.
The road floods, then clears, then floods.

One of the floods I will drive through, within reason. So I know the parameters. Usually it is not obvious if the road is flooded until you get really close. Then you can see how deep it is and make a choice. If it is too deep, or you don't keep to the centre line, then you are stuffed.
So I make a choice. But there are always cars that are stuck, and also times when I turn around but others plough through.
It is a LONG way round when it is flooded, which is why I assume people risk it.

But on the other hand, because of that regular experience with that road, I am much more wary of flooded roads, because I know that driving a couple of metres to one side or if the water is just a few inches deeper, then you will get stuck.

There's a road near me that has a permanent 'flood' sign on it. It's never had a hint of a puddle, let alone a flood.

Because they are often "road closed" signs forcing you to do major detours, when the road isn't actually closed.

So better ignore it and turn around if need be.

The Council puts the signs out at the first hint of flooding which affects a small cul de sac off the main road, but doesn't stop the main road as it is a lot higher. People who use the road regularly now know this, so go through road closed signs and can do so without getting tyres wet 99 times out of 100.

Depends on your car, I had a higher vehicle which sealed underneath that could cope with far deeper water than my current car could that’s lower, also knowing the road, water isn’t always even - where I used to live driving through the common flooded road saved 15 minutes so I often did and never broke down

I ignored one on Saturday and the road wasn't closed at all, not even a puddle. Got to where I wanted to be no problem. If I had seen water I would have turned round. But often the signs are left out too long.

We have something even worse near me - I spotted a massive hole under a country lane near me, what looked like a rabbit hole in the verge is 8 ft deep, and extends the width of the road. Tarmac on top is fine but it's floating on thin air. I told the council who put Heras fencing up as it's so unsafe. People keep snipping the cable ties and removing the Heras fencing even though they know why the road is closed!!!! Fair enough if they want to risk it but what about the poor person who comes along after them oblivious!!!