In Arizona the rule is if the puddle is bigger than your vehicle you let some other fool go first and see if they can make it...
As a story, I was out shooting skeet on a sand bar in the Agua Fria river some years ago with the owner of a plastics manufacturing company. We were having a great time until three vehicles showed up on the far shore of the river (two pickups and a jeep). We could see that the bamboo (yes, it grows here because it gets out of people's yards and is an invasive species) ahead of them would block their way. We also had to stop shooting, so we watched them instead.
They arrived at the bamboo and it was clear they couldn't go further. I turned to my buddy and said "I think he's going to try and cross there." The river was fairly still and dark in that area and that indicated it was pretty deep. Now, they could have turned around and went back a bit crossing on an area where you could see the bottom clearly and it was shallow, like we had, but they didn't.
The first truck, a fairly new Ford or GM 4x4 with a lift kit started across. About half way, he started to float. You could see his panic and he was shooting up big rooster tails as he desperately tried to get out of the river. The truck was in water about halfway up the doors.
He managed to get onto the bar we were on. The people inside opened their doors and a waterfall came spilling out. We were laughing so hard it hurt.
So, you'd think the other two would have figured out that wasn't a smart thing to do, but the jeep started across. I remember thinking "Nah, he couldn't be that stupid..." but he was. Half way, the jeep drowned and was stuck with everyone in it standing in water about up to their knees in the vehicle.
The last truck turned around, went down to the bar and crossed like we would have. He then towed the jeep out of the river where the owner tried repeatedly to no avail to start it. I suspect that's because the engine, transmission, and even the gas tank were full of water...
Stupid is as stupid does.