Within the past week, the Bay Area was hit by a river storm, with heavy rain and powerful winds that hindered San José State commuters.
The storm caused the National Weather Service to issue a flood advisory warning on Thursday, according to its webpage.
George Baraona, a fourth year SJSU business student commutes from Morgan Hill which can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour depending on traffic and weather conditions.
“I religiously keep up my car maintenance, but for those with less experience driving in a storm, I could see them hesitating to get behind the wheel,” Baraona said.
Proper car maintenance to survive a storm includes making sure windshield wipers, headlights, taillights, brake lights and turn signals are working along with checking your tire tread depth and pressure, according to the AAA website.
It’s important to drive cautiously to avoid sharp turns and hard braking while maintaining a further stopping distance than usual, according to the same website.
Rafael Alvarez, the patrol Lieutenant for SJSU Police Department, noticed a difference in parking because of the weather conditions.
“With the rain, my assumption is that people probably decided to not commute and stayed home because of the weather,” Alvarez said.
Rain causes more than 573,000 car accidents which resulted in over 445,000 injuries and over 6,000 fatalities each year nationwide according to the Shawn Brown Law website.
Yasmin Urenda, a fourth year business marketing student commutes from Gilroy and was on the fence about commuting to school because of the inclement weather.
“It worried me, especially since my windshield wipers aren’t working too well right now,” Urenda said. “I decided to miss class because I don’t like driving in the heavy rain.”
Heavy rainfall can cause slick roads especially on freeways which could lead to a car’s tires lose contact with the road because of the wet surface also known as hydroplaning, according to a Feb. 13, 2019 CarAndDriver article.
An average of nearly one million accidents occur each year due to wet pavements, 47% of those accidents are because of rainfall, according to a study by the University of Pittsburgh.
“Especially as a commuter, it would be ideal to have the option of making the class hybrid or online during a heavy storm,” said Baraona. “It would help out most students and staff, even ones who rely on public transportation and have to walk to different train stations and bus routes to make it to campus.
SJSU offers three different types of classes such as fully online, hybrid and in-person classes according to the university’s website.
The university also has around 50 programs that are fully online through the SJSU’s Online and Professional Education programs according to the SJSU webpage.
“I usually make it a quest to make it to campus and my classes. I’ve noticed students weren’t coming at all because of the hectic weather conditions and I noticed empty classrooms and parking facilities,” said Baraona.
