Verizon Wireless Offers Driver Safety Tips For the Year's Busiest Highway Travel Time

DALLAS — A record 38.9 million Americans are planning a Thanksgiving getaway of 100 miles or more from home, an increase of four percent over last year, according to the American Automobile Association. More than 31 million Thanksgiving travelers will go by motor vehicle and many will use wireless phones to call for help in an emergency or stay in touch with family during the drive.

With holiday auto travel predicted to grow by five percent from last year, Verizon Wireless offers these tips for driving safely and calling with care using your wireless phone:

• When behind the wheel, make safe driving your first responsibility.
• Use your wireless phone to call for help. Dial 9-1-1 in case of fire, traffic accidents, emergencies or road hazards. This is a free call from your wireless phone.
• When calling 9-1-1, be sure to give your name and wireless phone number, including area code; your location or major landmark and details of the situation.
• Place calls when stopped or before pulling into traffic. If your phone rings pull over to a safe area on the side of the road or let a passenger take the call.
• Allow your voice mail to take calls. Check your messages and return calls when you can pull over or have reached your destination.
• Suspend conversations when driving conditions are dangerous or traffic is heavy.
• Use hands-free devices. Using speakerphones, voice-activated dialing services, or hands-free devices that allow you to keep your eyes on the road and both hands on the wheel.
• Do not look up phone numbers or take notes while driving. Pull off the road to write down directions or look up phone numbers.
• Be familiar with your phone's features. Memorizing your phone's keypads allows you to use features such as speed dial and redial while keeping your attention on your driving.

Wireless phone users make more than 118,000 calls every day to 9-1-1 to report highway accidents, suspected drunk drivers and crimes in progress.

Verizon Wireless, the nation's largest wireless service provider, is committed to encouraging the use of new hands-free technologies to make using wireless communications in the car easier and ultimately safer. The company offers a range of high quality, affordable options for hands-free wireless communication, including headsets, earpieces and voice-activated systems.

Verizon Wireless reminds everyone to drive responsibly and call with care this holiday season.

About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless is the largest wireless communications provider in the U.S.with 26.3 million wireless voice and data customers and 3.5 million paging customers. The new coast-to-coast wireless provider was formed by the combination of the U.S. wireless businesses of Bell Atlantic Corp. and GTE Corp -- now Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) -- and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD). The new company includes the assets of Bell Atlantic Mobile, AirTouch Cellular, GTE Wireless, PrimeCo Personal Communications and AirTouch Paging. The company has a footprint covering nearly 90 percent of the U.S. population, 49 of the top 50 and 96 of the top 100 U.S. markets. Verizon Wireless, headquartered in Bedminster, NJ, is 32,000 employees strong. Reporters and editors can find more information about the company on the Web at http://www.verizonwireless.com.

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