CHP Warns Drivers To Slow Down On Open Freeways: Coronavirus

BAY AREA, CA — The COVID-19 coronavirus public health emergency may be keeping most motorists off the Bay Area freeways, but the California Highway Patrol says those wide-open lanes are not a license to speed.

"We've had a series of accidents up here today, and people need to slow down," said CHP Officer Miguel Camarena, who works in Solano County. On Saturday night, the CHP was dealing with six significant accidents in Solano County — none resulting in major injuries, he said.

CHP's Contra Costa Office in Martinez has posted a similar warning on its Facebook page, with the title "This is Not Your Racetrack."

"Remember that we are still out here and enforcing traffic laws. Just because there's a wide-open freeway doesn't mean it's your race track," the CHP Contra Costa post reads. "Please slow down and drive safely to where you must go."

Complicating the picture Saturday were scattered rain around the Bay Area, and high winds at some of the toll bridges, including the Benicia-Martinez Bridge. There were even isolated reports of flooding Saturday in San Francisco and Redwood City.

And on Sunday morning, with the heavier rains, flooding was reported on several more Bay Area freeways, including Interstate Highway 880 near Whipple Road in Hayward, El Camino Real in Mountain View, and the Interstate Highway 580/state Highway 24 connector in Oakland.

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