Why you do not cross flooded rivers

[brianr70]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/ne ... ihi-River/

[Taz]

"During their rescue, the man stood up on the roof and screamed a tirade of abuse at a photographer taking photos of the ordeal."

Should be the other way around...

[coxsy]

they will want the photo soon

[Bulletproof]

On TV1 news tonite they are thinking of charging the driver.

[vvega]

On TV1 news tonite they are thinking of charging the driver.

hope so thats a fairly stupid thing to do

[Denby]

I wonder what the cost to taxpayers and the rescue helicopter trust will be for saving this Darwin Award candidate?

[Oldroverlover]

If this is the youth of today god help us all

[Denby]

If this is the youth of today god help us all

You mean the leaders of tomorrow that will make the decisions on our pension and health care when we are retired?

[Nick555]

we arnt all that bad. Some of us know our trucks are not submarines.

[Windsock]

If this is the youth of today god help us all

Yes, the Nintendo, PS3, and X-Box generation - cars don't drown on screen and the undo button never worked halfway across the river!

[nstg8a]

i blame the toyota hilux ad's.... they showed crumpy doing anything he wanted in his... and it always seems to be surf owners that try this sort of thing lol

[Andrew1706]

Good excuse to get rid of that interior.

Mr Toyota, what were you thinking?

[Pico42]

Experienced' off-roader ends up in court
The Timaru Herald
Last updated 05:00 16/09/2009

A Temuka youth, who considered himself an experienced off-road driver, drove into the flooded Opihi River and then he, his passengers and a dog had to be winched to safety by a helicopter.

Timothy Sheldon Craddock, 17, pleaded guilty when he appeared before Judge Gary MacAskill in the Timaru District Court yesterday, to charges of driving into the river with reckless disregard for the safety of others, and dangerous driving causing injury to his passenger in relation to a crash four months earlier.

Craddock had recently bought the Toyota 4WD when he drove to the Grassy Banks area about 5pm on May 1. The river was in flood and about a metre deep when he drove into it. A front wheel went into a hole and the vehicle turned 180 degrees. It floated downstream until it became stuck on gravel. The vehicle began to fill up with water.

The occupants called the emergency services, but due to the conditions and darkness falling, a rescue helicopter was called to winch Craddock and his passengers off the vehicle.

His partner, one of his passengers on the river trip, received serious leg injuries when Craddock crashed another vehicle four months earlier.

Before the crash Craddock had driven a friend to Waimate early in the morning and was then heading home to Temuka when he drove off the road and hit a culvert. His partner received numerous broken bones in her legs and was flown to Christchurch Hospital by rescue helicopter. She was in hospital for four weeks.

Counsel Campbell Savage suggested Craddock had a low level of culpability for the early-morning crash, having fallen asleep on a lengthy drive.

He had made numerous trips to Christchurch to assist his partner when she was in hospital. His $2500 vehicle was written off.

He had had some off-road training and when Craddock drove into the river, circumstances took a turn for the worst, Mr Savage said.

Craddock was a first offender and deeply remorseful over what had happened.

Judge MacAskill was not impressed with the more than 20 traffic infringements Craddock had received, noting he had $7000 owing in fines.

He sentenced Craddock to 150 hours community work and disqualified him from driving for nine months.

Oh dear, he considers himself an experienced off-roader - at age 17.