Some road tunnel construction projects inevitably pass through goaf area with risk and potential danger. A finite element numerical model was established to simulate the situation between tunnel and underlying goaf and analyze the influence of underlying goaf on tunneling safety under the conditions of different distance from the underlying goaf to the tunnel. The result shows that the influence of underlying goaf on road tunnels is obvious, when the distance between tunnel and goaf is less than 10 m, the effect is dramatically significant, and some pre-reinforcement methods must be taken for safety. The critical distance that underlying goaf will affect tunneling safety is about 40m, and when the distance is less than 40 m, the adverse effect must be taken into consideration in the design and construction.