A363 at Bathford begins to reopen as drivers urged to be patient

“Well I have to say full marks to the wit from the Highways Agency who put up the official yellow sign at the end of a flood zone featured on Points West last night. it simply said "Told You So"!! Brilliant!!”

“Gotta agree with Malcolm (!) There is a world of difference between a Land Rover and your average Chelsea tractor. There's a good reason the Army doesn't use BMW X5s. Here's some words of wisdom I nicked from another site a while back:

"If you mostly drive on roads, buy a sports car.
If you mostly drive through mud, buy a Land Rover.
If you mostly drive through snow, buy a small front-wheel drive hatchback.
If you mostly drive through floods, buy a bus.
If you mostly just want to impress people with the amount of money you can afford to waste, buy an SUV."

Peacock feathers. Nothing more.”

“Clearly, the inability to cope with floods and vehicles must be a western thing - http://tinyurl.com/ce9hkqr”

“Can I just say that there is a world of difference between an off roader and a soft roader. One is designed for rugged terrain, the other is designed to be a big soggy bus for ferrying the kids around. An off roader generally has little in the way of creature comforts and is unlikely to be used much in an urban environment. I have an ex army Land Rover. It is designed to haul troops around on battlefields. No carpets, no radio, no air conditioning, no power steering,no comfy seats, canvass roof and heavy duty suspension and chassis. It does 0-60mph in...actually it doesn't. It can't get to 60mph unless you throw it out of an aeroplane. I can't remember the last time I ever drove into a city with it, it is completely unsuitable for that task. It never gets parked on pavements or stuck in traffic jams. Never. However it is absolutely brilliant for chucking the dogs in the back and heading for the middle of nowhere, hauling stuff to the tip, towing the neighbours up the hill of our untreated Cul de Sac when it snows and rescuing halfwits in soft roaders when they get stranded in puddles.”

“But a Land Rover is a Land Rover Imp-Act. In 4x4 terms a Land Rover is a Border Collie compared to some folks Japanese Akita. I don't see many Land Rovers parked on the zig zags outside the schools and in low flood some LR drivers have undoubtedly been useful in helping those brave drivers who drove into flood water to "chance it". If the emergency services saw fit to specifically remind 4x4 drivers that their vehicles are not amphibious who are we to argue?”

“V_V What the heck is a Land Rover? Hmm? Err? Tweet tweet? Oooo? YESSSS! It's a 4x4!!!
Reason why WVM stuck? Drove to fast and flooded the engine!
Tomsjan The water that this guy is going through is NOT flowing in any partcular direction because it's just an overflow from the river and is barely a foot deep. He is in a vehicle that can handle this just as long as he drives in a manner that WVM didn't. Flowing water is a completly different thing and that's where and when people are most likely to get in to a deadly situation.
As for who has COMMON SENSE? Well you see those little red arrows you have.......”

“This is how Sri Lanka's state bus operator coped with floods in 2007. The vehicle pictured is a rear-wheel drive with a 68 passenger capacity. Not once did I hear of any rescues or the slightest bit of whinging. Not all vehicles were able to do this. As far as I recall, acceptable service levels were maintained.

http://tinyurl.com/89ayvzh”

“No actually it is more to do with being stranded in your street on high ground in the winter months if you don't have one! Banes don't grit side roads don't forget! But even then I would think twice before going out on icy roads - perceived safety can be fatal.”

“I'm afraid the roads are full of morons who think normal rules don't apply to them. Why should taxpayers' money be spent on their stupidity? Let them sort out their behaviour themselves.”

“I was under the impression that it was mandatory to buy a Chelsea Tractor before buying a property in BANES. It surely gives the impression that 'one lives close to the Cotswolds so one has to have a serviceable vehicle in case of drizzle'.”