Rain lifted the sludge.
Riding in Washington, I don't often have to worry about what these motor officers experienced. On roadways, particularly at intersection or restricted access gates to military bases, where cars are slowed are stopped are notorious for collecting the various lubricant drippings that older leaking motorized vehicles like to deposit on the roadway. That first fifteen minutes of rain creates a nice potporri of lubricant soup, kind of an autobahn astroglide. (The trifecta is the rain, oil coated roads and brand spankin new tires.) Those of you that laugh at riders that jump off the highways and head for cover at the first sign of rain may be witnessing the very behaviour that keeps those million mile riders on the road. They know the worst time to be on that pavement is the fist 15 minutes of a rain storm when all that crap is floating about on in or under the water. A lot of experienced riders will pull off the road for 10 or 15 minutes allowing the non-water based lubricants to be washed from the roadway before resuming their ride.
Like I said, in western washington this is of little significance since an oil molecule has a snowballs chance in hell of clinging to the wetted road surface!!
It is unfortunate that an officer lost his life to such an avoidable incident, if this was in fact the cause of the accident!
