Today’s Solar Eclipse Could Potentially Be Dangerous to More Than Just Unprotected Eyes

“Don’t let the spectacle in the sky distract your driving today.” That’s the warning issued by the AAA concerning this once-in-a-lifetime event. If you are unfortunate enough to be behind the wheel today during the solar eclipse, please resist looking at it – it’s not only bad for your eyes, it’s distracted driving at its worse.

So . . . if you absolutely must be on the road this afternoon, here are some suggestions on being safe:

• Don’t stop along the highway or interstate or park on the shoulder of the road. Pull off into a rest area or find a place to safely park your car.
• Keep your headlights on and do not rely on automatic headlights.
• Please don’t try to photograph the eclipse with your cell phone while driving (experts say that cell phones won’t be able to capture a decent image if the eclipse anyway.)
• Be mindful of pedestrians who may be walking around looking up at the sky.
• And this should be given but we’ll say it anyway, don’t wear eclipse glasses while driving!

While south central Pennsylvania is not in the path of the “total eclipse of the sun” (sorry Bonnie Tyler), we’ll still experience 80% of the sun covered by the moon. That should be pretty awesome to see. In Lancaster county, the eclipse will begin at 1:18 PM and last until 3:59 PM with the maximum eclipse being at 2:42 PM when the moon is closest to the sun.