Text messaging on the road is a recipe for disaster. Dialing on the cell phone is not far behind. In the Wall Street Journal’s “CARS” section, a recent piece in “Eyes on the Road” looked at differences between older and younger motorists. The WSJ noted “older drivers often know how to manage distraction better than younger ones.” According to a major insurance company researcher, an older driver using a cellphone on the road will dial a digit, look up, dial another one, and look up again.

On the other hand, teenage driver will often dial an entire phone number, eyes on the handset, taking her eyes off the road for a longer and more dangerous period of time. The five seconds or so it takes to dial a phone number goes by quickly. But a car traveling 60 miles per hour will roll 440 feet in those few moments — unless it hits the rear end of the vehicle that was 30 feet ahead when the dialing started. Even at 45 miles per hour, according to Herndon Reston area car crash lawyer Doug Landau, a car will travel 110 yards in these 5 seconds. You can check this out online your teenage driver. That is longer than a football field. A driver taking their eyes off the road for the length of a football field while dialing in numbers on the ever smaller number pad and driving what is really a small tank, is a deadly combination. At ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. we ask that you please avoid dialing and texting while moving.