“I didn’t sign up to deliver by…”
A DoorDash driver was on his way to make a delivery when he saw the road ahead and made an immediate decision to turn around.
Facebook creator Michael Worthington recently posted a Reel about the situation. “Not today, sir,” the caption reads. “I’ll be nice and find a detour, through. See you soon.”
The road ahead of Worthington is completely underwater.
His video has over 13,000 likes and 415 comments as of this writing.
The comments are full of jokes and some semi-serious suggestions on what he should do.
“Better pull out the kayak,” one person cracked.
A second person said, “Just pull off to the side. Let someone else go through it. See how deep it is [and] if they make it first. It’ll usually be some short dude in a big truck.”
“I’ma sit it on a log by the water and leave a note. ‘On the log by the water. I didn’t sign up to deliver by boat, and I’m not currently driving the Magic School Bus,’” another said.
Someone else stated, “Yeah, gotta love some people knowing they’re flooded out but they order stuff in LOL.”
The National Weather Service (NWS) advises against driving through floodwaters. In fact, every year, more deaths occur due to flooding than from any other thunderstorm related hazard.
NWS notes that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that over half of all flood-related drownings happen when someone drives into flood waters. It’s important to be aware that six inches of fast-moving water can knock over an adult and just a foot of rushing water is enough to move a vehicle.
So when they say “turn around, don’t drown,” they mean that very literally.
Physical safety isn’t the only thing to factor to consider when deciding whether to drive through flood waters. It can also impact your vehicle. Capital One notes that driving through water can damage your vehicle’s engine and electrical components.
If you do drive through water, the bank recommends immediately turning the vehicle off to prevent further damage. Then have it be towed to a repair shop for inspection immediately.
Clearly it’s best to never drive through floodwaters. But what if you inadvertently do it? In a Reddit thread posted to r/MechanicAdvice three years ago, commenters said your car might ultimately be fine if doesn’t immediately stall.
“If it didn’t die on you, you’re OK,” one person said. “If it stalled and continued driving as normal, it may have sucked up a bit but it has evaporated. If it died on you, pull the parks, crank it over. Hope it shoots a load of water out, throw the sparks and coils in, and pray it turns over. Even then, still good.”
Another person said, “Don’t do it again. You got lucky; don’t push your luck.”
Motor1 contacted Worthington via Instagram direct message and DoorDash via email. We’ll update this if either responds.
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