I'd look down at the map for 5 seconds and look up to find myself halfway across the lane...
Originally Posted by
IAHtraveler
I hope it's not a full 5 seconds (unless you're stopped at a light)
. That's a lot of time!! At highway speeds (~70 mph), you've gone 500 ft in 5 seconds. Even at 35 mph, you've gone far enough to do a lot of damage off the shoulder.
Well, the standard figure is that if you sneeze while driving 70mph, you go about 300 feet with your eyes closed. ... I'm not sure how long it takes me to glance at the map and see that I've missed my exit, but 5 seconds is a rough estimate.
With sincere apologies for the off-topic digression (which is worse? failure to followup, or prolonging an OT?)... Out of curiosity, I just timed myself driving my own car. Apparently I only look away from the road for about 3 seconds maximum. After that, whatever I'm doing (map, stopwatch, etc.) some self-preservation instinct yanks my eyes back to the road.
So map glance = sneeze, roughly speaking. And apparently my subconscious agrees with
IAHTraveler that 5 seconds is a lot of time at highway speeds!