Can you drive during the eclipse? Yes, without looking at it or stopping on the hard shoulder

Yes, you can drive during the eclipse on Monday 2 August 2027, but without looking at it. For last summer’s eclipse, the DGT (Spain’s traffic authority) asked drivers not to look directly at the Sun or wear eclipse glasses at the wheel, to switch on dipped headlights as it got dark and not to stop on the hard shoulder or the carriageway to watch it. The hard-shoulder rule was already law: stopping there without good reason is a serious offence. In the southern path of totality darkness comes quickly: totality crosses the Spanish coast from Cádiz to Almería between about 10:46 and 10:51 Spanish time (CEST, UTC+2).

What the DGT asked for

The DGT’s press release for last summer’s eclipse listed the risks: crowds of cars, especially when totality ended; improvised stops on the carriageway or hard shoulder; drivers distracted by watching or photographing it; and pedestrians on the road near viewing spots. Its advice for drivers was:

• increase your following distance and adapt your speed;
• don’t handle your phone, camera or any other device to take pictures;
• keep dipped headlights on while it gets dark;
• don’t look directly at the Sun or wear viewing glasses while driving;
• lower the sun visor if the Sun dazzles you;
• slow down near viewing spots, because of pedestrians.

And one ban that the release calls “absolute”: stopping on the hard shoulder or the carriageway to watch the eclipse. To see it you have to leave the road and park only where parking is provided or allowed.

Eclipse glasses at the wheel are dangerous, however obvious that sounds. Nova Scotia Health, the health authority of the Canadian province, explains in its safety sheet that with them on your vision is severely restricted.

What the law says about the hard shoulder

You don’t need an eclipse for a stop on the hard shoulder to cost you. Spain’s Traffic Act (Ley sobre Tráfico) says that on roads outside built-up areas, stopping or parking must always be off the carriageway, leaving the usable part of the hard shoulder clear (article 39). Among serious offences, article 76 includes breaking the rules on using the hard shoulder and stopping anywhere dangerous or where traffic is seriously obstructed. And article 80 sets the fine for serious offences at €200.

On top of the fine there is the danger: a car stopped on the hard shoulder with its driver looking at the sky, while everyone else is looking up too.

When the light drops in the path

Totality is short and arrives fast. According to the AAS (American Astronomical Society), almost all the loss of light happens in the last minute before totality, and the light comes back just as quickly at the end. During totality the light is similar to civil twilight, and when the Sun is 99% covered it is like a cloudy day: you notice it, but it is still daytime. These are the IGN times for the start and end of totality in some towns (ours run a few seconds later and are on each town page):

Mainland Spanish time. If you are going to be on a road in the path at those times, expect a few minutes of sudden gloom, people stopped and looking at the sky, and pedestrians where you don’t expect them.

The return journey, the worst moment

The DGT warned that the critical moment is the return, when totality ends and everyone sets off at once. Its advice was to stay at the viewing spot for a while before leaving. The Trío de Eclipses website, the official eclipse site of Spain’s Ministry of Science, points out that the 2027 eclipse falls during Operación Verano, the DGT’s summer holiday traffic operation, and asks people to avoid travelling on eclipse day, especially after maximum. It also says that specific plans are being prepared for the road network, coordinated by the DGT and by the regional authorities that have their own police forces. And it is a Monday in August on the coast.

The IGN (Spain’s National Geographic Institute) and the Trío website advise against travelling on the day of the eclipse itself: arrive the day before, leave the car parked where it is allowed and don’t move it until well after totality. To choose your route and timing there is getting there and the guide to traffic on eclipse day (in Spanish). Check road conditions on the DGT’s channels before you set off.

Sources: DGT — For the eclipse, the traffic authority recommends planning journeys, staggering the return and taking extra care at the wheel (in Spanish: risks, advice at the wheel, ban on stopping on the hard shoulder or carriageway, the return journey); BOE, Spain’s Official State Gazette — Royal Legislative Decree 6/2015, consolidated text of the Traffic Act (in Spanish: articles 39, 76 and 80: stopping off the carriageway, serious offences and their fine); IGN — Recomendaciones prácticas (in Spanish: don’t travel on eclipse day, especially on the way back; public transport; follow the DGT); Trío de Eclipses, official website of Spain’s Ministry of Science — Tráfico (in Spanish: Operación Verano, road plans, avoid travelling after maximum); Nova Scotia Health — Solar Eclipse Safety (eclipse glasses severely restrict your vision at the wheel); AAS — How Dark Does It Get During a Total Solar Eclipse? (the light drops in the last minute; at 99%, like a cloudy day; in totality, like civil twilight); totality times: eclipseando data (skyfield engine + DE440s); durations: IGN.