No laughing matter, a bunch of customers are going to be really pissed when their orders don’t arrive…
I live on a really narrow street on a 25% gradient, with a couple of sharp 90 degrees turns chucked in for good measure.
We’ve had a few artics wedged in here when they’ve blindly followed their sat-nav’s when all human instinct would tell you theres no way it will accommodate a large van, never mind an artic
I met WCA briefly at the weekend. Lovely man.
In fairness, if he was a random bloke on the street you wouldn't look at him and think 'seconds away from a catastrophe' but KNOWING it's WCA, there is a hint of 'yep, I can imagine that'
This dude clearly had the "It's going to get worse, so fuggit" moment... you can see the exact moment in the video.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce82xmrd683o
That Broomway route in the original article is an interesting one. Its about 5 or 6 miles long in total, and was once the only 'dry land' access to Foulness Island until a military road and bridge were built. Much of it is mapped by the OS as Byway Open to All Traffic, and the rest as a bridleway, presumably based on historical use by horses and carts. So its entirely plausible that the BOAT bit has found its way onto satnav databases as 'driveable'. All that said, how much of a ****wit would you have to be, to think "Yeah, 3.5t van, it'll be fine on that wet, muddy, tidal sand"
All that said, how much of a ****wit would you have to be, to think "Yeah, 3.5t van, it'll be fine on that wet, muddy, tidal sand"
This was an equally good one from last year
All that said, how much of a ****wit would you have to be, to think "Yeah, 3.5t van, it'll be fine on that wet, muddy, tidal sand"
Never underestimate the blind faith / stupidity of someone following a satnav.
Honestly this ^^^^
I was a highways inspector for a while (awesome job, loved it) and places that are listed as roads/byeways, but are functionally impassable to people not in a 4x4 or on a bike do exist. I had to report 100% surface cracking/deterioration on one road because it was just two rutted tracks up a hill.
Vauxhall Vivaro... still made it up to the top.
My friend had to reject a warranty claim when he was working at a BMW dealer from someone who was insistent that because their Satnav had directed them through a ford (small f) which flooded the engine and left them with a big bill, that it should be BMW footing the bill.
The fact it was a raging torrent of water over 1m deep following a storm was apparently not something they should need to worry about!
There’s a hotel down the road from us that has a narrow and very steep bridleway around the back which a lot of sat nav’s send people down to get to it.
A mate lives just at the top of the bridleway and says he watches numerous people, every single day, setting off down something that clearly isn’t a road, without asking themselves the obvious question…. “does this rough, steep, narrow track look like the entrance to a quite large hotel?”
He also says that it is very amusing then watching them trying to reverse back up it once the penny has finally dropped, especially if we’ve had a lot of rain
I was cycling along a bridleway last night that ends in a park by housing estate leading into a village outside of Cambridge. I have no idea where the car that passed me thought it was going (it was past the point of any access to properties or commerical places of which there are a couple earlier on the route), I didn't see them come back either so it's presumably upside down in the field next to it, or they really took their time finding it was a dead-end to cars and a long reverse back down the unlit path in the dark and the rain.
There is a very popular stately home near me and as you drive out you get to a cross roads. Left and right are roads but straight on is a BOAT and about once a year I come across someone trying to drive down it. Usually they don’t make it too far.
There's a car park in the Peak District - Burbage Bridge if anyone knows it. The road loops around to get to it, but there's a little bridleway with a couple of rock slabs halfway down that cuts off the corner. Once on a Stanage loop we happened across someone who had tried to drive a Ford Focus down it, and was stuck on one of the slabs. We offered to help, but the driver was concerned about scraping the bottom of his car so we left him to it.
I was out on the Quantocks a few weeks ago and watch a silver estate making its way along the Great Road from Staple Plain towards Holford. That was surprising.
Oh actually, non-MTB related but there was one just round the corner from me a while back (I run over that bridge quite often. There's a bollard on both ends now).
Putting aside the roads question for a second but answering the general question.
Working on pipes in a ceiling, ising a freeze kit. Got all my tools ready on the floor, got every thing prepped and ready to go. Not m firdt rodeo had done it a few times.
So i cut the pipe and the first thing that happened was an ice bullet shot out and down my sleeve to my armpit. And i naturally put my thumb over the end sorted.
Except all the fitting and the tools are on the floor...
We came across this Amazon van on a bridleway in Leeds a couple of years ago
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Leaving aside wrong turns in cars and goign for the "Oh shit, what have I just done" events...
When I was a new skydiver (less than 25 jumps) I went to Alvor with my ex's team so I could jump while they trained. Alvor had/has a rep for the most dangerous dropzone in Europe because it doesn't really have many places to land if you miss the main area. It is also by the coast and mountains, so weather can roll in pretty quick.
Anyway, loaded onto the plane and went up to height. Ex's team leaves at 3200m and the plane goes on up to 4500m for the rest of us: I was by the door when the team left, so saw that there was cloud coming in all the way around the DZ, but thought "Yeah, it'll take a while" and sat back. 4500m comes, I'm second out and as I spot (you always spot) I see that the clouds have come in a lot more, but I am _sure_ I see the DZ below me, so I jump. The guy behind me sees me leave and jumps too and, by the time I turn around from looking at the plane, I see this big white blanket covering everything.
It was a long 60 seconds to opening and was broken only by a fraction of a second when I saw, directly below me, a white square and a white cross against a grey background that my brain recognised as a hanger and a plane being fixed outside it. I opened up about level with the top of the clouds and then had a loooooong canopy flight through thick clouds until, FINALLY, I saw the outlione of the runway and the landing field. I landed safely and learned that they'd shut the DZ as the cloud rolled in, but we'd already jumped.
A butt-clencher that ride, taught me a LOT about personal responsibility.
Sheepishly puts hand up & admits to driving through a pedestrian underpass in Basingstoke (before satnav) only realised when I got to the end & saw there was just a footpath to the left or right, so I quickly drove across the grass to the nearest road 😔
M8 live locally, and he says it's now travel 1/2 mile down the river from the ford & is stuck on a footbridge
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/HN5IbkKEH80
We came across this Amazon van on a bridleway in Leeds a couple of years ago
https://postimg.cc/pyYhHS3Z )" target="_blank" rel="noopener">[IMG-20231202-124215-HDR.jpg]( https://postimg.cc/pyYhHS3Z)
Jeez! Is that Occupation Lane, just off York Gate down from Otley Chevin? There are times of the year (like now) that I'd not ride my MTB down that!
It was at this moment, I realised, I'd *ed up.
And this moment I realised, I'd REALLY *ed up.
Not a driving one, but that time I was repointing my fireplace, chopped out a broken brick and knocked through into next door's lounge...
It is indeed occupation lane, I was surprised that she'd got that far to be honest.
so they wanted a quiet place where they wouldn't be diturbed to spend some 'quality time'?(it was past the point of any access to properties or commerical places of which there are a couple earlier on the route), I didn't see them come back either so
We've got a new cleaner at work. He's a young lad who has embarked on a campaign to rid our office carpet of 25 years worth of ingrained grime and grot. He's tackling it with the same enthusiasm, and success, that he's putting into growing his moustache.
Every morning I'm greeted with a constantly moving 'cleaned' patch on the carpet and ever growing damp stain over the floor. It's a work of art and does actually bring a wee bit of joy to my heart.
I might also have been encouraging the lad a wee bit by telling him it's definitely improving.
If I set my satnav (google maps) to take me home by car from the local sailing club, it ignores the access road and suggests I drive across the lake!!
Back in the mists of time i am sure if you asked google maps to get a walking route from the us the europ it took you to the coast and told you to swim.
I can only assume someone tried it and they took that Easter egg away.
That Broomway route in the original article is an interesting one.
I worked on Foulness from 1989 to 1995 it's a really interesting place, I feel very lucky to have spent time there. The current bridge had just been built replacing one that had been restricted to one vehicle at a time. It's quite extraordinary that they could have turned off the main road, I assume they must have been delivering to one of the few houses on the island. Would have had to go through at least one police gate as well, guess he didn't ask them for directions.Those mudflats are lethal, it could have turned out a lot worse. I see they've recovered it but I think it would have been much better to let them use it as target practice. I assume the guns are still firing there so the shells can be recovered at low tide.
Not a driving one, but that time I was repointing my fireplace, chopped out a broken brick and knocked through into next door's lounge
Yeah you do come across party walls that are only one brick/four and half inches at the back of fireplaces. There are some terraced houses which only have one brick width party walls throughout. I can think of some in Wilmslow! It's relatively rare with brick built houses in the UK. Most are at least 9 inch/two brick widths, barring the back of chimney breasts and party walls in roof spaces, which can be partially or non existent!
As for sat nav roads that turn ugly about half way down. I can distinctly remember one close to Mossley town centre and there's loads in the Peak district/Derbyshire.
We came across this Amazon van on a bridleway in Leeds a couple of years ago
https://postimg.cc/pyYhHS3Z )" target="_blank" rel="noopener">[IMG-20231202-124215-HDR.jpg]( https://postimg.cc/pyYhHS3Z)
Jeez! Is that Occupation Lane, just off York Gate down from Otley Chevin? There are times of the year (like now) that I'd not ride my MTB down that!
Dunno about riding along that, I’d have second thoughts about walking along it!
As there’s a large building just a bit further on, I can see why the driver though from further back it was ok to keep driving, but the same can be said about large expanses of the Somerset Levels recently.
Robert MacFarlaine writes about the Broomway in one of his books, and it is, or was, bloody dangerous, especially if a sea fog rolls in when you’re part way along. Apparently, the trick then was to use a long piece of cord, tie one end to a ‘broom’, or marker pole, then walk along, looking for the next one, in a sweeping fashion, then once you found it, tie the other end to that pole, walk back following the cord, untie it, walk back to the pole it’s tied to, rinse and repeat.
Nothing dangerous about that at all, what could possibly go wrong…
Seeing that footage of the truck trying to negotiate the bridge, and taking out the parapet, the same thing happened to Reybridge bridge over the Avon, near Lacock. The parapet has been hit, and chunks knocked out of it, repeatedly over the years, then last year a truck tried to negotiate it, and knocked about ten/twelve feet over, some actually into the river! Driver didn’t stop, just like that other one…
