Driving to San Francisco In Heavy Rain

This morning I had to drive from near San Jose into San Francisco and found all sorts of havoc (at least for California drivers who don't see rain very much during the year). We only usually get rain (at most) from  about November to April and sometimes not much even then.

However, the last week it is Noah's Ark time and as I headed up the 101 hydroplaning without having an accident was the newest freeway sport today. But then there were places along the right lane or left land (3 to 4 lanes in one direction and the same on the other side coming down the freeway facing us) that were made unsafe by 3 to 8 to 12 inch puddles of water on the freeway. So, hitting one of these with traffic around you might be fatal at speeds above 60 or 70.
It finally got so bad that everyone slowed down from 65 to 75 to 40 mph because no one could see the road so much rain was coming down. Then my wife's smartphone went off telling me that the area we were in was flash flooding (No one needed to tell me that, all I had to do was to look at the rain on the freeway). Then the Freeway puddles became sort of nightmarish with people coming the other way splashing people in the fast lane and vice versa. So, I found that driving in the hump (the middle lane) could have me avoid fast lane puddles and slow lane puddles which were taking people nearer and nearer to accidents.

Then all of a sudden everyone slowed down because there was an accident in the fast lane when someone slowed down too fast for a really huge puddle about 8 to 12 inches deep and got rear ended by someone who couldn't stop. But, for the rest of the drivers we all slowed down because of this accident and it prevented many more accidents because we all had to slow down for the accident strewn across the diamond lane and the one next to it. At this point literally everyone put on their emergency flashers for the next 5 miles because it had gotten so crazy on the freeway at that point.

So, if you can help it don't drive on a freeway when so much rain is coming down you can barely see the road while it makes puddles that (at least in California) most people can't navigate their cars like boats yet, and though you might be safe in this kind of situation most drivers out were not as lucky. So, the ones of us who survived with our cars safe and intact were thankful today.