The increased traffic and spectacle of Monday’s total solar eclipse could put motorists at risk, with researchers warning of an increase in fatal crashes during previous total solar eclipses and police also warning of the phenomenon. We are prepared.
According to a letter published this week in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, fatal car accidents increased by 31% during the 2017 total solar eclipse, and even in the days surrounding the astrological event.
Although the spike in accidents was not related to the moment of darkness when the moon obscures the sun, surprisingly, “we do see a significant decrease during the hour when the eclipse is involved,” said co-author Donald Redelmeyer. writes Dr.
“The problem is the time of day that people travel to observation sites, especially the hours after,” Redelmayer, a professor of medicine at the University of Toronto, told Live Science. “What we are particularly concerned about is the drive home.”
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Although we hear more stories of eye-related injuries related to total solar eclipses than car accidents, researchers believe that millions of people were injured in the path of a total solar eclipse before and after the 2017 total solar eclipse. The number of fatal accidents increased by 31%. (Shelley Mays/Tennesseeian/USA Today Network/Imagn)
From a road traffic perspective, the event will be “like 20 or 30 Super Bowls happening at once,” said Richard Feinberg, project manager for the American Astronomical Society’s solar eclipse task force. Deaf told Time.
The University of Michigan estimates that during the 2017 solar eclipse, about 20 million people in the United States traveled to other cities within 70 miles of total orbit.
In 2017, the route was within a three-hour drive of only three major cities: Portland, St. Louis, and Kansas City. By comparison, the 2024 Games will be held within three hours of eight major cities, including Toronto, Houston and Chicago.
The Society of Transportation Engineers conservatively estimates that 5 million people will travel for the event, and if everyone leaves the road immediately after the event ends, the resulting traffic will be packed to capacity. That’s the equivalent of 71 football games.
On Monday, observers will be able to see a total solar eclipse for just 2.5 to 4.5 minutes, and viewers outside the path will only see a partial eclipse. The route will run from Mexico’s Pacific coast through Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, all the way to Newfoundland, Canada.
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The Society of Transportation Engineers conservatively estimates that 5 million people will travel for the event, and if everyone leaves the road immediately after the event ends, the resulting traffic will be packed to capacity. That’s the equivalent of 71 football games. The photo shows the 2017 solar eclipse as seen from Nashville. (Andrew Nells/The Tennessean/USA Today Network/Imagn)
NASA estimates that 31.6 million people already live within the path of the big picture, with an additional 150 million people able to see the part-whole picture, and on Monday millions more will be able to see these parts. It will invade the area. In 2017, a comparatively 12 million people lived within the path of the solar eclipse.
In 2017, the totality was only about 115 miles wide, but this year’s eclipse will be 115 miles wide, NASA estimates.
“The 2017 total solar eclipse was widely anticipated because the path of the total solar eclipse (where it occurs) was within a 300-mile drive for one-third of the U.S. population. “An estimated 20 million people in the United States traveled away from home, creating significant road traffic as they traveled to different cities to view the eclipse,” the researchers wrote in their paper. “We hypothesized that solar eclipses are associated with an increased risk of death from motor vehicle crashes.”
According to the researchers, the traffic fatality rate increased from an average of 7.9 to 10.3 people per hour in the three days before and after the eclipse.
“In absolute terms, this translates to, on average, one additional person involved in an accident every 25 minutes and one additional fatality every 95 minutes,” the authors write.
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On August 17, 2017, a recreational vehicle stopped on a two-lane road near Madras, Oregon. After the 2017 solar eclipse, it took up to 20 hours for traffic congestion to clear in some parts of Oregon, according to the transit agency. (Getty Images)
The study found that in the hours immediately following a totality, the risk of fatal road accidents was 50% higher than average.
The total increase coincides with major holidays such as Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July weekend, they said.
The study focused on fatal accidents, and it’s possible that less severe accidents are also on the rise, but Redelmayer told LiveScience that “we just don’t have any data on that.”
James O’Callaghan, a public information officer for the New York State Police, told Fox News Digital that experts predict there will be up to 1 million eclipse chasers in Western New York alone. According to census data, just over 2 million people live in the region.
He said law enforcement and city officials have spent the last year planning for the astronomical phenomenon, primarily focusing on road safety. An additional 100 to 150 state troopers will be mobilized to the area, primarily to control traffic.
A large part of the preparation for this event included analysis of previous eclipse events. That included places like Oregon in August 2017, where heavy traffic took more than 20 hours to clear as tourists traveled to and from monitoring spots.
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On August 21, 2017, in Lander, Wyoming, a large number of American motorists hit the road at the same time and had to deal with long lines of stopped traffic as they tried to get out of town. The solar eclipse caused a headache for the drive. . (Helen H. Richardson/Denver Post via Getty Images)
Impacts on cell phone service, traffic congestion, and reduced mobility for emergency first responders are all potential dangers.Niagara region on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls declared a state of emergency In light of those concerns, on April 8th.
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Some cities, like Niagara Falls in New York, have taken steps to keep revelers in town to space out departing traffic after the event ends.
“We actually encourage people not to leave as soon as the totalization is complete. [but] Stay there, like tailgating at a football game. [This is to] Free up traffic. Sit back and enjoy the entertainment there. That will make it easier to get out,” a spokesperson for the mayor’s office told FOX News Digital, noting that area vendors, musicians and nighttime fireworks will be available.
