Christmas Eve brings rain to Bay Area, roadway headaches and accidents

MILL VALLEY, Calif. (KGO) -- The rain wasn't enough to stop Bay Area shoppers from their last minute Christmas Eve retail missions, but it did bring traffic to a halt with accidents and spin outs.

Bill Maynard is feeling lucky to be alive this Christmas Eve after his truck spun out in the rain on southbound Highway 101 in Sausalito Monday morning.

Maynard's truck was totaled.

"There was no way to save it, fortunately I didn't get hurt and neither did my wife," said Maynard.

He was driving from Eureka to spend Christmas with his daughter in Scott's Valley.

"We had a lot of Christmas presents loaded in the truck for the grandkids," Maynard added.

RELATED: Track the rain on Live Doppler 7 radar

The CHP says the rain caused a lot of spin outs. But speeding drivers likely help things.

"Some of our officers in the north we're getting drivers with speeds of 90 mph. On wet roads that's not a smart idea, it takes very little to go wrong at 90 mph," said CHP Officer Andrew Barclay.

King Tides brought flooding to Mill Valley and Sausalito. Some drivers were going for it, hoping and trying to make it through high water. CalTrans was closing down parts of the Shoreline Highway off 101.

"I was concerned about making it off the offramp at Mill Valley, last week they closed it because of king tides," said driver Ken Maybury.

But rain and flooding didn't stop shoppers from braving the mall.

"The rain kept crowds down, I got in and out, I was worried but it turned out, I'm retired from Christmas shopping now," Maxine Hoover.