Ignoring "Turn Around Don't Drown" Leads To An Epic YouTube Channel

Two more cars, among perhaps thousands, that have
fallen victim to Rufford Ford in England 

You've heard the phrase "Turn Around Don't Drown" over and over again, right?

It's weather and safety officials begging you not to drive your car through flood waters. Best case scenario when you do that is you destroy your car's engine, hence your vehicle. Worst case scenario is you get swept away and drown. 

Neither option is particularly appetizing. However, somebody in the UK has made a great YouTube channel out of the stupidity of driving through one flood prone spot. 

The back story first: 

The YouTube channel by Tom Sunderland involves Rufford Ford in Nottinghampshire in UK. As hotcars.com explains, there's something like 2,000 of these so-called fords in England.

They're basically small back roads that cross a small stream. Local councils have deemed bridges unnecessary because the brook is usually very shallow and these little roads attract mostly pedestrians and horseback riders, not cars. 

As hotcars.com tells us: 

"If you're on horseback, you can ride through it. Simple. Well, perhaps it's not that simple. Because there are many drivers who think it's fine for them to use it too. And for the majority of the year, it is, as the water levels of these little rivers may only be only three or four inches high during the spring, summer and autumn months. It's when we hit winter that things get interesting."

To be honest, it's sort of OK to drive through water that's three inches deep if you are 100 percent sure the road beneath hasn't been washed out or otherwise damage. I'd probably drive through Rufford Ford with my Toyota Tacoma if I knew the water was only three inches deep.

A couple weeks ago, I drove through three inch deep floodwaters on Shelburne Road in South Burlington. Me and my Tacoma survived just fine. 

The problem is that in winter, the water in Rufford Ford can be deeper than three inches. Much deeper. And shockingly, it seems thousands of people insist on driving through anyway. 

In the winter, very wet storms blow through the UK, and that little brook gets high. People are warned about their own stupidity in these cases. The local council puts up "Road Closed" signs at the entrance to Rufford Ford. 

When that happens, there's a four-mile detour. Many motorists aren't having these detours.

So they plow into the water, with predictable results. Cars get stuck, float away or just die.  Rufford Ford becomes a bit of a tourist attraction when the water is high. Judging from the videos, people gather at the ford and watch cars splash into the water and stall. A friendly local tows the cars out of the drink. The crowds  cheer and applaud the whole thing.  Frankly, it's great entertainment. 

It's mind blowing to watch some of these videos to see a car stuck in that Rufford Ford water, and then what does the next motorist do? Plow right into the water, despite the hints screaming at them not to do it. What the hell?

Tom Sutherland records all of these Rufford Ford fails, and posts them on YouTube. Sutherland makes bank, big time. His channel has more than 21,400 subscribers. Each of his videos ends up having tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of views. It's really on the same level as the 11'8" bridge videos from North Carolina, where hapless truck drivers try and fail to fit under a low bridge crossing. 

(They raised that bridge by eight inches but truck drivers continue to shear off the tops of their vehicles trying to squeeze under it). 

Apparently, quite a few other YouTubers do the same thing as Sutherland. Like I said, it's become a tourist attraction. 

Here's one video from the Rufford Ford collection. It's a compilation of the best fails and attempts in the past year. It's amazing how many stupid people there are. Click on this link to view, or watch by click on the image below.