At a speed of 55 mph, a texting driver can travel approximately how far without looking at the roadway?

At a speed of 55 mph, a vehicle is traveling at approximately 80.7 feet per second. If a driver looks away from the road to text, even for just a few seconds, they can cover a significant distance during that time.

For example, if a driver takes their eyes off the road for about five seconds to send a text, they would cover roughly 403.5 feet (5 seconds multiplied by 80.7 feet per second). This distance is just over the length of a football field, which measures 300 feet without the end zones and 360 feet including them. Therefore, when assessing how far a texting driver can travel without looking, the distance they cover can be compared to that of a football field.

This highlights the serious risks associated with distracted driving and underscores how quickly a vehicle can move even when briefly diverted. The other distances listed, such as a car length or the length of a soccer field, fall short of capturing the significant distance that can be traveled in that brief time frame.