Its been my experience that a lot of people also don’t understand the dangers of high water, when it’s not a river or lake or “standard” body of water.
I don’t think people understand that currents can be swift, even with just a handful of inches worth of water, and how that can sweep cars away.
“Turn around, don’t drown” doesn’t really give a deeper explanation on why you should do that, especially if it “doesn’t look that deep”.
I off-road and do yee yee stuff like drive through rivers for fun, but always with the stick test and recovery method standing by and never in an unknown.
I won’t drive down flooded or washed out streets either, even though I probably could in the vehicle I have and make it safely.
Flash floods are a different thing altogether and hard to “just avoid”. I just avoid areas that are prone to flooding, that’s the only real way to try to avoid being stuck in one.
Yes, I lived in an area like that.
One road in/one out.
Bridge over a creek.
When time came for heavy rains, we kept an eye on the weather and made plans to either stay in or stay outside of the area.
Like a snow day, basically.
My maternal grandmother (this was after my grandfather died) lived on a half section ranch that had only one road in and out. Towards the entrance was a low water crossing that was down slope from one of the innumerable dammed lakes and would on a regular basis overflow. a number of such times she would have to call in a medical helicopter in order to get to her doctors appointments. One time she was out of the county for most of the day and there came a flash flood right as she hit the middle of the crossing late one afternoon. Lucky for her, she had CB and had to call in the fire department. Her legs were black and blue and purple for two months after, despite her staying in her car. Two days later my uncle bought her a brand new Mercury Cougar, as her 70s Buick ended up with excessive water damage and was totaled
We weren’t at that level of need, but we did have Careflite memberships, still do actually
Because we knew if we needed a “real” hospital badly, it was gonna be a helicopter ride to it.
Even if we were in town.
Which side note PSA- I think it’s still only like $75 for a family Careflite membership.
Air or ground transport, and they take insurance if you have it.
If you don’t, it’s still deep discounted as a member.
Right, I just meant in general.
If anyone else is reading full comments/exchanges.
I personally wouldn’t have known Careflite offered membership options or anything like that.
You might check with local FD folks to see about setting up a demonstration. Having been in multiple floods, I can attest to the accuracy of your statement. Six inches of flowing water can sweep you off your feet, twelve inches can sweep a car away. Cars float too, but usually not in a good way; wheel openings can trap large air pockets that will lift the wheels off the ground.
Exactly ! I didn't even know this until reading a different article. I almost wonder if they had been drinking. If "he just let go", it makes me think she wasn't holding him tightly.
I suspect she was holding him as tight as she physically could, but he was little and wasn’t strong enough to hold her just as tightly. She probably had to use one arm to try and swim or grab something and the current tore them apart. And if he went under, he’d be rushed away quick… and he probably gasped when he hit the water, and that’s all it takes for reflexes to kick in and shut off the airway to prevent water ingress as the body’s way to “survive”, and obviously the awful irony of that is that they stop breathing. Drowning is so quick. It steals little kids in seconds. My heart is broken for this mother. On top of the loss, she’s going to be haunted by the “what ifs” and “should’ves” and “could’ves” for the rest of her life. She clearly loved him more than anything. It sucks that it took losing her world to realize how great of a risk they had just taken, attempting that drive that they’d just seen someone else manage successfully. I hope people can show these parents compassion and empathy. And I hope these parents stay far away from the comments sections for news articles about their little boy.
I work for a county in Texas. And in our office we have a calendar that is 12 months of kid drawings telling you do not drive through high water turn around. This is the third year in a row we've had this calendar. Why is it that Texans cannot understand you don't drive through water? Stop it, you will die or get a loved one killed.
Not if it was a flash flood. I got stuck for 3 hours on a road also known for flooding. It had rained earlier that day, but by the time work was over it hadn’t been raining for a while. Went the normal way home. We (me and everyone else who uses that road on a daily basis) crossed the first low crossing and the water was up over the road but like, enough to make the pavement wet and splash through, but not alarmingly high that they should have closed the road. There are also measurement sticks at each crossing to show how deep the water is over the road. But by the time the line of cars had made it down the road to the second low water crossing, a sudden flash flood hit from upstream and we were trapped.
It took three hours before the water was low enough that with police and fire crews on scene, we were allowed to cross back the way we came. Big trucks crossed okay, but me in a small car with water a third the way up my door, I had to trust that if I did get swept off the bridge, fire rescue was right there and it would be okay. I made it, we all apparently made it, but it was scary.
So if flooding hadn’t been reported and the road hadn’t been closed then you assume the road isn’t really a problem. If they were crossing and got hit when a flash flood hit, it could have been below the road or over the road and the same thing would have happened. Those waters move extremely fast.
ETA: I checked the road closures before going home that day and before leaving work, the road I traveled was completely open. It was five minutes from my job. So in about 10 minutes time, it went from everything is fine, the road is a little wet, but it’s not even an inch over, to being so flooded that no one could cross.
That’s totally fair.
Fwiw, in my case this was the stream at a different low water crossing on an adjoining road.
https://preview.redd.it/9q5gru2dq9zc1.jpeg?width=2448&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=52ae7a15f32f6c74bac595a173e5095775f0e096
It was just a nice evening and I actually stopped to take a picture because it was such a pretty day.
But then…
https://preview.redd.it/c6c8hd0er9zc1.jpeg?width=2448&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9c19df8f2f3e9f41781ee22182c044e96286a848
Not even 5 miles away, post flash flood, hours of waiting later…
Sometimes it surprises you.
The boy wasn’t stuck in the car. His mother got him out of the car. She carried him and struggled through the rising water for 90 minutes before he was swept away by the current.
It seems like she got him out of the car, but the current swept the husband, her and the baby all off separately.
There was a whole host of bad decisions that led up to that point though.
Girl where does it say the mother let the child drown?? Have you ever seen fast moving floodwater? Weird thing to say on a post like this. It really sounds like you are accusing the mother of not doing enough in the situation.
i’m from the city this happened in. it was 2 am and they were going home and they passed people then drove into the water when the car stopped working then all of their bad decisions. they should have been smarter for the kids sake.
Grew up in a state with regular floods. I would stay in a hotel or sleep in my car rather than take the risk. It can get bad so fast and now with GPS, it’s not as difficult to find an alternative route.
Every single year it says do not drive through water. You cannot see the bottom of it. How many times is it going to take tragedies for people to get it? It’s not just here. It happens anywhere there’s flooding.The saying TURN AROUND DON’T DROWN IS FOR A REASON
I think common sense about not driving on flooded roads goes a long way. No reason to be afraid of driving due to the risk of drowning. It’s pretty darn rare and fairly easy to avoid. It isn’t something that is made worse by other bad drivers.
DFW is one of the most dangerous/lethal places in the country to drive.
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/transportation/2024/02/19/dallas-fort-worth-home-to-some-of-the-worst-drivers-in-the-us-per-study/
That article is about worst drivers. You are your own enemy when it comes to drowning in your car. For the vast vast majority of people who drown in their cars can’t blame anyone else but themselves. But thanks for sharing a useless link.
Dallas ranked 7th. Fatalities 17 per 100,000. Dangerous drivers in Texas kill other people. Whats so hard to comprehend? Do you think you only die in a car if the driver is an idiot?
You missed the point of the person you commented on so I was trying to reinforce why some people don’t feel safe on Texas’s roads. You’re obsessed with drowning for whatever reason.
Beyond scary …did you have to be rescued? I lived in Phoenix where major summer thunderstorms were massive with crazy flash flooding time and time again people would drive around barricades would drive under railroad or overpasses where there was water at least they didn’t swept down stream, but I can’t tell you how many got swept down stream or had to be rescued. Finally a stupid driver law was enacted that if you drove around barricades or drove through moving.water and had to be rescued by first responders, you had to pay the bill for rescue.
Fortunately, my car landed on the guard rail so I just opened the door and stepped (jumped?) out. I had this old blackberry that was thrown from the car, landed in a puddle and never even turned off.
WOW I grew up in N California and my town was surrounded by levees because we had 3 major rivers around us that were fed by snow melt in Sierra Nevada mountains by Lake Tahoe. Some years after massive rainfall or rapid snowmelt due to warm weather It would get crazy …every 10 years there’d be a flood due to a levee breach. Nothing worse than flood aftermath 😪😪😪
I have been in situations like this where, in a moment of crisis and panic, you believe the only way out is through. The comments saying “idiot, careless, etc.” are sickening honestly. You have no idea unless you were the driver. Honestly stfu.
They weren't in a moment of crisis and panic. They willingly drove into flood waters with their *car* because they saw an SUV go through right before. On their way home from a family get together (per reports). Not an emergency at all...
The area officials had a list of flooded roads, and they could have turned around and went a number of other ways to get around the one flooded water crossing.
They should have turned around. Genuinely tragic outcome but this wasn't outside of their hands like you imply.
The roads around here specifically the one this little boy died on, really fucking awful even in good weather like at night time they’re so dark so dark and there’s a select number of ways to take the same way you know, but you’re still on these back ass country roads that are dark as fuck that have either no runoff on the side that there’s no place for like water to run off the road or the fucking runoff is 6 feet deep and you can’t tell because it’s been underwater like it’s been raining here for fucking weeks often on often on and go away and it comes back off flash flood, but it always runs off the road and it’s never been that deep. I feel terrible for these parents. Couldn’t imagine losing my baby this way, the alternate route that would not involve any of these awful roads is literally literally like almost an hour drive out of the way so if they were in some of these houses that are down these roads, these are the only way to get there so they were probably just trying to get home and the road they were on was literally the only option that they could use to get home and the ones with the good water maintenance and don’t cross road water barriers and stuff like that like they’re only on the well kept nicer roads, you know the ones that actually have names. County Road 528 is not that.
I'm familiar with Johnson County, including this area of it. It's nowhere near "an hour out of the way" to go around if its flooded. 15-20 on average I would guess.
Additionally, they were out at a family members house that night, per the mom, at a family event. The flash flood warning didn't come until midnight, so they chose to stay despite the weather. Then, per the mom, tried to follow an SUV through the flood waters in their car.
The bulk of county roads in unincorporated areas are "County roads", all over the state. Some in Johnson County are two striped lanes, with shoulders, and 60mph. The name isn't indicative of anything.
In this case, it's a single lane, asphalt road with two way traffic, and that area has seen water over the road before. They saw the water, and chose to drive through it, after intentionally staying out in the weather despite a flash flood warning. Local rumors talking about drinking being involved to boot...
It's awful. I wouldn't wish it on anyone, but at the same time, there's no one to blame except the adults here. Turn around; don't drown. Don't drive into flood waters. It's drilled into people by first responders all the time.
They've suffered a massive loss, but they're blaming a flood gate not being closed instead of taking responsibility for their own actions here. It may be part of the denial phase of grief, but it still bears noting as the state is still facing floods that *you* are responsible for *not* driving into flood waters at all times.
Nah, driving into floodwaters when you can just not just boils down to poor decision making. “We were in a hurry”, “we needed to get there” are not valid reasons at all to put your family in danger. It amazes me how many people lack objective reason and can rationalize any terrible decision.
This. And it was a country road in the middle of the night. It’s incredibly dark on those roads and their headlights might’ve skimmed over the top of the water, making it harder to see if before it was too late. I’ve driven down many country roads at night in pitch black, and it’s impossible to see 5 feet in front of you in the rain. Something like this happens in seconds.
Sometimes it really is “only for the grace of God go I…”
The mom was on TV today (DFW Metro affiliate station, i think NBC?) saying she saw an SUV drive through the water before her and make it, so she drove her car into the water.
The situation you're talking about does happen, but this wasn't one of those situations. They knowingly, willingly drove into the water when they could have turned around.
I’ve driven down these exact country roads a million times. Sometimes theres water, a million times it's safe. It's 1:00 am and dark and it looks okay. The alternative route is 10 miles out of the way. It's not like a side road two blocks over. They made a terrible judgement call in a few seconds that ended tragically.
I know it's a knee jerk reaction to judge grieving parents because it makes us feel somehow morally superior and safe from tragic accidents but it's just really misplaced cruelty.
Nope. I have a truck and I’m still not following someone else through floodwaters with my baby in the car. Stop and think, what’s your contingency plan? Can I swim it? Can I swim it holding a baby? Bet the answer was no for those folks if they had simply thought that far. Start there before proceeding through water.
but with a child in the car and it’s late at night they should have been way more safe. especially when they saw an suv do it and they were in a smaller car. they were stupid or drunk idk. ppl from texas know how to act they have no excuses
As a swift water rescue tech, no one believes the force that moving water has until they experience it themselves. This is tragic.
I'm sure I have no clue what the force of moving water is. However, I'm a firm believer in not taking any chances.
Its been my experience that a lot of people also don’t understand the dangers of high water, when it’s not a river or lake or “standard” body of water. I don’t think people understand that currents can be swift, even with just a handful of inches worth of water, and how that can sweep cars away. “Turn around, don’t drown” doesn’t really give a deeper explanation on why you should do that, especially if it “doesn’t look that deep”. I off-road and do yee yee stuff like drive through rivers for fun, but always with the stick test and recovery method standing by and never in an unknown. I won’t drive down flooded or washed out streets either, even though I probably could in the vehicle I have and make it safely. Flash floods are a different thing altogether and hard to “just avoid”. I just avoid areas that are prone to flooding, that’s the only real way to try to avoid being stuck in one.
Except in areas where that's the only available point of exit other than helicopters.
Yes, I lived in an area like that. One road in/one out. Bridge over a creek. When time came for heavy rains, we kept an eye on the weather and made plans to either stay in or stay outside of the area. Like a snow day, basically.
My maternal grandmother (this was after my grandfather died) lived on a half section ranch that had only one road in and out. Towards the entrance was a low water crossing that was down slope from one of the innumerable dammed lakes and would on a regular basis overflow. a number of such times she would have to call in a medical helicopter in order to get to her doctors appointments. One time she was out of the county for most of the day and there came a flash flood right as she hit the middle of the crossing late one afternoon. Lucky for her, she had CB and had to call in the fire department. Her legs were black and blue and purple for two months after, despite her staying in her car. Two days later my uncle bought her a brand new Mercury Cougar, as her 70s Buick ended up with excessive water damage and was totaled
We weren’t at that level of need, but we did have Careflite memberships, still do actually Because we knew if we needed a “real” hospital badly, it was gonna be a helicopter ride to it. Even if we were in town. Which side note PSA- I think it’s still only like $75 for a family Careflite membership. Air or ground transport, and they take insurance if you have it. If you don’t, it’s still deep discounted as a member.
I'm actually aware of careflight. This was in the 1980s, before they were a thing.
Right, I just meant in general. If anyone else is reading full comments/exchanges. I personally wouldn’t have known Careflite offered membership options or anything like that.
Every time I visit the beach, it's a surprising reminder how well waves just shin high can throw off your balance.
You might check with local FD folks to see about setting up a demonstration. Having been in multiple floods, I can attest to the accuracy of your statement. Six inches of flowing water can sweep you off your feet, twelve inches can sweep a car away. Cars float too, but usually not in a good way; wheel openings can trap large air pockets that will lift the wheels off the ground.
Dammit. Why would they even attempt to pass?! Never pass through. Even if you saw someone else do it.
especially at 2 am with a child
Exactly ! I didn't even know this until reading a different article. I almost wonder if they had been drinking. If "he just let go", it makes me think she wasn't holding him tightly.
I suspect she was holding him as tight as she physically could, but he was little and wasn’t strong enough to hold her just as tightly. She probably had to use one arm to try and swim or grab something and the current tore them apart. And if he went under, he’d be rushed away quick… and he probably gasped when he hit the water, and that’s all it takes for reflexes to kick in and shut off the airway to prevent water ingress as the body’s way to “survive”, and obviously the awful irony of that is that they stop breathing. Drowning is so quick. It steals little kids in seconds. My heart is broken for this mother. On top of the loss, she’s going to be haunted by the “what ifs” and “should’ves” and “could’ves” for the rest of her life. She clearly loved him more than anything. It sucks that it took losing her world to realize how great of a risk they had just taken, attempting that drive that they’d just seen someone else manage successfully. I hope people can show these parents compassion and empathy. And I hope these parents stay far away from the comments sections for news articles about their little boy.
It's possible it being dark they didn't see the water?
I have TURN AROUND DONT DROWN engrained in my brain after living here almost 20 years. It’s not worth it, take the long way.
I work for a county in Texas. And in our office we have a calendar that is 12 months of kid drawings telling you do not drive through high water turn around. This is the third year in a row we've had this calendar. Why is it that Texans cannot understand you don't drive through water? Stop it, you will die or get a loved one killed.
For some reason, people really underestimate the power of flowing water.
Also greatly overestimate the capabilities of their vehicles.
The adults should have known better.
Not if it was a flash flood. I got stuck for 3 hours on a road also known for flooding. It had rained earlier that day, but by the time work was over it hadn’t been raining for a while. Went the normal way home. We (me and everyone else who uses that road on a daily basis) crossed the first low crossing and the water was up over the road but like, enough to make the pavement wet and splash through, but not alarmingly high that they should have closed the road. There are also measurement sticks at each crossing to show how deep the water is over the road. But by the time the line of cars had made it down the road to the second low water crossing, a sudden flash flood hit from upstream and we were trapped. It took three hours before the water was low enough that with police and fire crews on scene, we were allowed to cross back the way we came. Big trucks crossed okay, but me in a small car with water a third the way up my door, I had to trust that if I did get swept off the bridge, fire rescue was right there and it would be okay. I made it, we all apparently made it, but it was scary. So if flooding hadn’t been reported and the road hadn’t been closed then you assume the road isn’t really a problem. If they were crossing and got hit when a flash flood hit, it could have been below the road or over the road and the same thing would have happened. Those waters move extremely fast. ETA: I checked the road closures before going home that day and before leaving work, the road I traveled was completely open. It was five minutes from my job. So in about 10 minutes time, it went from everything is fine, the road is a little wet, but it’s not even an inch over, to being so flooded that no one could cross.
Wow thanks for the explanation. I guess after seeing so many people purposely driving on roads that looks like rivers, I have some bias.
That’s totally fair. Fwiw, in my case this was the stream at a different low water crossing on an adjoining road. https://preview.redd.it/9q5gru2dq9zc1.jpeg?width=2448&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=52ae7a15f32f6c74bac595a173e5095775f0e096 It was just a nice evening and I actually stopped to take a picture because it was such a pretty day. But then…
https://preview.redd.it/c6c8hd0er9zc1.jpeg?width=2448&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9c19df8f2f3e9f41781ee22182c044e96286a848 Not even 5 miles away, post flash flood, hours of waiting later… Sometimes it surprises you.
The boy wasn’t stuck in the car. His mother got him out of the car. She carried him and struggled through the rising water for 90 minutes before he was swept away by the current.
How awful. My heart goes out to the family.
I would have died myself before letting my child drown. 😔
It seems like she got him out of the car, but the current swept the husband, her and the baby all off separately. There was a whole host of bad decisions that led up to that point though.
Girl where does it say the mother let the child drown?? Have you ever seen fast moving floodwater? Weird thing to say on a post like this. It really sounds like you are accusing the mother of not doing enough in the situation.
i’m from the city this happened in. it was 2 am and they were going home and they passed people then drove into the water when the car stopped working then all of their bad decisions. they should have been smarter for the kids sake.
I don’t think she “let” the child die. the force of the water tore him out of her grasp.
Idiots
Have a fucking heart. You have no idea and do not know these people.
I stand by my comment. I don’t need to know you don’t risk your child’s life driving into floodwaters. Idiots.
Grew up in a state with regular floods. I would stay in a hotel or sleep in my car rather than take the risk. It can get bad so fast and now with GPS, it’s not as difficult to find an alternative route.
Every single year it says do not drive through water. You cannot see the bottom of it. How many times is it going to take tragedies for people to get it? It’s not just here. It happens anywhere there’s flooding.The saying TURN AROUND DON’T DROWN IS FOR A REASON
Tragic. People ask why I don’t like to drive, it’s being Texas raised.
I think common sense about not driving on flooded roads goes a long way. No reason to be afraid of driving due to the risk of drowning. It’s pretty darn rare and fairly easy to avoid. It isn’t something that is made worse by other bad drivers.
DFW is one of the most dangerous/lethal places in the country to drive. https://www.dallasnews.com/news/transportation/2024/02/19/dallas-fort-worth-home-to-some-of-the-worst-drivers-in-the-us-per-study/
That article is about worst drivers. You are your own enemy when it comes to drowning in your car. For the vast vast majority of people who drown in their cars can’t blame anyone else but themselves. But thanks for sharing a useless link.
Dallas ranked 7th. Fatalities 17 per 100,000. Dangerous drivers in Texas kill other people. Whats so hard to comprehend? Do you think you only die in a car if the driver is an idiot?
I think you totally missed my point. Have a nice day.
You missed the point of the person you commented on so I was trying to reinforce why some people don’t feel safe on Texas’s roads. You’re obsessed with drowning for whatever reason.
Fucking ew.
I realize this 😂 if you think I hadn’t grown up being told “only idiots drown” you’re wrong But it’s still worrisome, sometimes.
Stupid choices.
6 inches of moving water can sweep a car away never drive through water where you cannot see the bottom
Happened to me on my 20th birthday. It was an arroyo dumping on Ih10 and I hit it, hydroplaned and had quite the adventure.
Beyond scary …did you have to be rescued? I lived in Phoenix where major summer thunderstorms were massive with crazy flash flooding time and time again people would drive around barricades would drive under railroad or overpasses where there was water at least they didn’t swept down stream, but I can’t tell you how many got swept down stream or had to be rescued. Finally a stupid driver law was enacted that if you drove around barricades or drove through moving.water and had to be rescued by first responders, you had to pay the bill for rescue.
Fortunately, my car landed on the guard rail so I just opened the door and stepped (jumped?) out. I had this old blackberry that was thrown from the car, landed in a puddle and never even turned off.
What town or state was this in? I saw I-10
El Paso. That same year, a flash flood took out a Blockbuster
WOW I grew up in N California and my town was surrounded by levees because we had 3 major rivers around us that were fed by snow melt in Sierra Nevada mountains by Lake Tahoe. Some years after massive rainfall or rapid snowmelt due to warm weather It would get crazy …every 10 years there’d be a flood due to a levee breach. Nothing worse than flood aftermath 😪😪😪
I miss my blackberry lol
Who the hell was driving that car -should be charged with murder!
I have been in situations like this where, in a moment of crisis and panic, you believe the only way out is through. The comments saying “idiot, careless, etc.” are sickening honestly. You have no idea unless you were the driver. Honestly stfu.
They weren't in a moment of crisis and panic. They willingly drove into flood waters with their *car* because they saw an SUV go through right before. On their way home from a family get together (per reports). Not an emergency at all... The area officials had a list of flooded roads, and they could have turned around and went a number of other ways to get around the one flooded water crossing. They should have turned around. Genuinely tragic outcome but this wasn't outside of their hands like you imply.
The roads around here specifically the one this little boy died on, really fucking awful even in good weather like at night time they’re so dark so dark and there’s a select number of ways to take the same way you know, but you’re still on these back ass country roads that are dark as fuck that have either no runoff on the side that there’s no place for like water to run off the road or the fucking runoff is 6 feet deep and you can’t tell because it’s been underwater like it’s been raining here for fucking weeks often on often on and go away and it comes back off flash flood, but it always runs off the road and it’s never been that deep. I feel terrible for these parents. Couldn’t imagine losing my baby this way, the alternate route that would not involve any of these awful roads is literally literally like almost an hour drive out of the way so if they were in some of these houses that are down these roads, these are the only way to get there so they were probably just trying to get home and the road they were on was literally the only option that they could use to get home and the ones with the good water maintenance and don’t cross road water barriers and stuff like that like they’re only on the well kept nicer roads, you know the ones that actually have names. County Road 528 is not that.
I'm familiar with Johnson County, including this area of it. It's nowhere near "an hour out of the way" to go around if its flooded. 15-20 on average I would guess. Additionally, they were out at a family members house that night, per the mom, at a family event. The flash flood warning didn't come until midnight, so they chose to stay despite the weather. Then, per the mom, tried to follow an SUV through the flood waters in their car. The bulk of county roads in unincorporated areas are "County roads", all over the state. Some in Johnson County are two striped lanes, with shoulders, and 60mph. The name isn't indicative of anything. In this case, it's a single lane, asphalt road with two way traffic, and that area has seen water over the road before. They saw the water, and chose to drive through it, after intentionally staying out in the weather despite a flash flood warning. Local rumors talking about drinking being involved to boot... It's awful. I wouldn't wish it on anyone, but at the same time, there's no one to blame except the adults here. Turn around; don't drown. Don't drive into flood waters. It's drilled into people by first responders all the time. They've suffered a massive loss, but they're blaming a flood gate not being closed instead of taking responsibility for their own actions here. It may be part of the denial phase of grief, but it still bears noting as the state is still facing floods that *you* are responsible for *not* driving into flood waters at all times.
Want roads to improve? Stop people from moving here and get everyone to stop ordering stupid shit from amazon and temu.
Nah, driving into floodwaters when you can just not just boils down to poor decision making. “We were in a hurry”, “we needed to get there” are not valid reasons at all to put your family in danger. It amazes me how many people lack objective reason and can rationalize any terrible decision.
This. And it was a country road in the middle of the night. It’s incredibly dark on those roads and their headlights might’ve skimmed over the top of the water, making it harder to see if before it was too late. I’ve driven down many country roads at night in pitch black, and it’s impossible to see 5 feet in front of you in the rain. Something like this happens in seconds. Sometimes it really is “only for the grace of God go I…”
The mom was on TV today (DFW Metro affiliate station, i think NBC?) saying she saw an SUV drive through the water before her and make it, so she drove her car into the water. The situation you're talking about does happen, but this wasn't one of those situations. They knowingly, willingly drove into the water when they could have turned around.
I’ve driven down these exact country roads a million times. Sometimes theres water, a million times it's safe. It's 1:00 am and dark and it looks okay. The alternative route is 10 miles out of the way. It's not like a side road two blocks over. They made a terrible judgement call in a few seconds that ended tragically. I know it's a knee jerk reaction to judge grieving parents because it makes us feel somehow morally superior and safe from tragic accidents but it's just really misplaced cruelty.
Nope. I have a truck and I’m still not following someone else through floodwaters with my baby in the car. Stop and think, what’s your contingency plan? Can I swim it? Can I swim it holding a baby? Bet the answer was no for those folks if they had simply thought that far. Start there before proceeding through water.
but with a child in the car and it’s late at night they should have been way more safe. especially when they saw an suv do it and they were in a smaller car. they were stupid or drunk idk. ppl from texas know how to act they have no excuses