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Safety Aspects of Digital Billboards
Billboards called source of distraction at national safety summit
 Billboards
were cited as a cause of driver distraction during a national safety
summit hosted by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in Washington, DC.
Presenter Dr. John Lee of the University of Wisconsin said that billboards can be a cause of motorist distraction outside of vehicles. Scenic America president Mary Tracy was pleased that billboards were included along with other distractions such as phone calls and texting. "[Billboards]...pose an unnecessary safety risk to drivers," she said.
Click here to download the full Scenic America press release on the distracted driving summit.
July 2007 saw the release of two industry-sponsored studies which concluded that digital billboards are no more likely to cause traffic accidents than conventional billboards. The billboard industry has since 
cited the studies numerous times as evidence that the
proliferation of digital billboards poses no safety threat to the
motoring public.
An objective, expert analysis of
the studies has been prepared for the Maryland State Highway
Administration by Jerry Wachtel, a highly regarded traffic safety
expert. His report is extremely critical of the conclusions and
methodology of both studies and effectively debunks them.
A definitive study on the safety of electronic billboards has yet to be done, but the following documents contain information that is important to the current debate. The titles of the documents below are links to their PDF versions. You will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer to open and read them.
The Impact of Driver Inattention on Near-Crash/Crash Risk: An Analysis Using the 100-Car Naturalistic Driving Study Data
April 2006, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation
A major study of driver inattention, primarily involving distractions inside the car, but finding that any distraction of over two seconds is a potential cause of crashes and near crashes.
Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 1937, 2005
A study of electronic signs in Toronto, which finds that “On the basis of the eye fixation study and the pubic survey data, it is apparent that video advertising can distract drivers inappropriately and lead to individual crashes,” but calls for additional research due to other conflicting data.
September 2001, Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation
A summary of existing research (as of 2001), on the subject of the safety of electronic signs and a call for additional studies.
December 1994, Wisconsin Department of Transportation
Study of the dangers posed by an electronic sign in Milwaukee along I-94, that concluded that “It is obvious that the variable message sign has had an effect on traffic, most notably in the increase of the side swipe crash rate.”
Kevin Fry addresses digital billboards on KDKA
Scenic America President Kevin Fry was a recent guest on the Paulsen & Steigerwald show on newsradio station KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
 Fry was asked to be on the show as Pittsburgh and other communities in Pennsylvania stuggle to deal with the proliferation of billboards, particularly digital billboards, in the Keystone State.As you may know, the Pittsburgh city council is battling over a proposal for a huge new digital billboard downtown, while other communities in the state are working to keep digital billboards off their roads. You can listen to Fry's interview in its entirety (approx. 10 minutes) by clicking the play button below. |
Billboards
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