April 23, 2009
Report Says Digital Billboards Don’t Cause Accidents
There’s
very little discussion about whether digital billboards work. Most believe
they do and that’s what worries government officials who have nightmares
about multi-car pileups being caused by drivers taking their eyes off the
road to take in the latest brand message.
A
new report from Tantala Associates, commissioned by the Foundation of Outdoor Advertising
Research (FOAR), concludes
that safety concerns are misguided as the incidence of traffic accidents
is not any higher in the area of digital billboards than it is on other
roads with or without outdoor advertising. In fact, the research found
that the incidence of accidents was down four percent in an area within
six-tenths of a mile of the billboards.
The
study analyzed five years of traffic data for streets in an area in Rochester,
Minn. where five digital billboards are located.
“Rochester
was a unique opportunity for study about the statistical associations between
digital billboards and traffic safety using robust data sets and analyzing
multiple locations for periods in excess of four years,” Michael Tantala
of Tantala Associates, told Media Life Magazine.
“This
study is more evidence that these valuable advertising and public service
tools belong in forward thinking communities,” said Nancy Fletcher,
president and CEO for the Outdoor Advertising Association of America, told MediaWeek. “The
evidence is clear: digital billboards are not related to traffic accidents.”
The
study’s findings support previous research conducted for FOAR in Cuyahoga
County, Ohio in 2007, which found there was no difference in glance patterns
of drivers between digital billboards and conventional billboards during
the daytime. Glance patterns were found to be more frequent and longer
at night, as might be expected.
Even
supporters of digital billboards understand that they may have a tough
go ahead with increasing regulation from a variety of governmental bodies.
The Federal Highway Administration has questioned the methodology of studies
completed to date and plans to release
findings from its own research on road safety and outdoor digital signage
later this year.
Discussion Questions:
Where do you come down on the digital billboard issue? Do you think they
pose a road safety hazard? Are they more effective than traditional billboards?
- A
Study of the Relationship Between Digital Billboards and Traffic Safety
in Cuyahoga County, Ohio – The Foundation for Outdoor Advertising - Driving
Performance and Digital Billboards – The Foundation for Outdoor
Advertising - Report:
Digital Billboards Not a Threat to Drivers – MediaWeek - New study: Digital billboards
are safe – Media Life Magazine - IN
DEPTH: Billboard safety – what Washington thinks – SCREENS.tv
BrainTrust
Recent Discussions
Discussion Questions
Poll
Ahh, the digital billboards with changing messages will not be a problem because most of the drivers won’t notice them while text messaging and talking on their cell phones.
Digital billboards are a blight on urban areas. Driving down the 405 through Los Angeles is like driving through an obstacle course of blinking, flashing moons. While direct accident reports in this industry report may not show much, I can’t see how the very reason they “work”–distracting eyeballs away from the car in front of you–is good business for many people.
If the creative is done well on any billboard, digital or otherwise, the message should be absorbed in an instant, and not require drivers to become disengaged with the task of driving. Let’s get back to the basics of effective messaging for the medium so the government can go back to governing instead of meddling in the advertising industry!
This is no different than screaming children in the back seat, singing to the radio, changing radio stations (or songs on the CD), eating, talking on the phone, etc. Digital billboards are nothing new, and neither are disturbances in the car. Governing this out of the car is just not possible. There have always been disturbances in the car, and they are something that we have to accommodate.
It’s light pollution. I don’t want to see any more of these digital signs going up anywhere. Not happy with plain old billboards either but we definitely don’t need any more brightly lit flashing signs blotting out the light of the night time skies!
This story illustrates the problem that industry lobbying groups have with credibility: no matter how careful and/or legitimate the research–and I don’t know one way or the other about this particular one–the results will be viewed with suspicion…one always waits for the caveat that invalidates the whole work; and judging by the responses so far, DBs are going into this with few friends.
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Ahh, the digital billboards with changing messages will not be a problem because most of the drivers won’t notice them while text messaging and talking on their cell phones.
Digital billboards are a blight on urban areas. Driving down the 405 through Los Angeles is like driving through an obstacle course of blinking, flashing moons. While direct accident reports in this industry report may not show much, I can’t see how the very reason they “work”–distracting eyeballs away from the car in front of you–is good business for many people.
If the creative is done well on any billboard, digital or otherwise, the message should be absorbed in an instant, and not require drivers to become disengaged with the task of driving. Let’s get back to the basics of effective messaging for the medium so the government can go back to governing instead of meddling in the advertising industry!
This is no different than screaming children in the back seat, singing to the radio, changing radio stations (or songs on the CD), eating, talking on the phone, etc. Digital billboards are nothing new, and neither are disturbances in the car. Governing this out of the car is just not possible. There have always been disturbances in the car, and they are something that we have to accommodate.
It’s light pollution. I don’t want to see any more of these digital signs going up anywhere. Not happy with plain old billboards either but we definitely don’t need any more brightly lit flashing signs blotting out the light of the night time skies!
This story illustrates the problem that industry lobbying groups have with credibility: no matter how careful and/or legitimate the research–and I don’t know one way or the other about this particular one–the results will be viewed with suspicion…one always waits for the caveat that invalidates the whole work; and judging by the responses so far, DBs are going into this with few friends.