April 8 eclipse could bring uptick in fatal car crashes, scientists caution

The total solar eclipse on April 8 could come with an uptick in fatal car crashes, scientists caution in a new report.

It's more common to hear about eclipse-related eye injuries than car crashes. But during the last total solar eclipse in North America — the "Great American Eclipse" of 2017 — the U.S. saw a brief-but-significant increase in fatal crashes, researchers warned in a research letter published Monday (March 25) in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

The surge in crashes wasn't tied to the daytime darkness caused by the eclipse. Actually, "we see a significant decrease during the single hour that involves the eclipse," said co-author Dr. Donald Redelmeier, a professor of medicine at the University of Toronto and a staff physician at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.

"The problem is the surrounding hours, when people are Traveling to their place of observation and especially afterwards," Redelmeier told Live Science. "We're especially concerned about the drive home."

Related: Now's the time: Where to buy your solar eclipse glasses before the April 8 total eclipse

During the 2017 eclipse, the path of totality — the route the moon's shadow takes across the Earth below — was narrow, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) wide. In the center of that path, eclipse viewers got the longest glimpse of totality, in which the moon totally blocks the sun's face. Some 20 million people in the U.S. traveled to a different city to reach the path of totality, estimates suggest.

During the upcoming April 8 eclipse, viewers within the path will be able to witness totality for about 2.5 to 4.5 minutes, depending on their location. Viewers outside the path's boundaries will be able to see only a partial eclipse.