Billboard : Road safety concerns

A driver distraction

Researchers at the University of North Carolina prepared a thorough report on driver distraction for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. This study, released in June of 2001, said: "The search appears to suggest that some items--such as CB radios, billboards, and temperature controls--are not significant distractions."

Traffic safety experts have studied the relationship between outdoor advertising and traffic accidents since the 1950s, finding no authoritative or scientific evidence that billboards are linked to traffic accidents. However, many of these studies were funded by the Outdoor Advertising Association of America, which has led to accusations of bias. The methodology used in certain studies is also questionable.

The U.S. Department of Transportation, State Department of Transportation and property/casualty insurance companies statistics on fatal accidents indicate no correlation between billboards and traffic accidents. A broad sampling of law enforcement agencies across the country found no evidence to suggest that motorvehicle accidents were caused by billboards. Property and casualty insurance companies have conducted detailed studies of traffic accident records and conclude no correlation between billboards and traffic accidents.

However, studies based on correlations between traffic accidents and billboards face the problem of under-reporting: drivers are unwilling to admit responsibility for a crash, so will not admit to being distracted at a crucial moment. Even given this limitation, some studies have found higher crash rates in the vicinity of advertising using variable message signs or electronic billboards.

It is possible that the presence of advertising signs in rural areas are of value in reducing a driver boredom, which many believe is a positive contribution to highway safety. On the other hand, drivers may fixate on a billboard which unexpectedly appears in an otherwise monotonous landscape, and drive straight into it (a phenomenon known as 'highway hypnosis'). As yet there is little scientific research on the effects of advertising billboards on rural highways.

Surveys of drivers and road users show that the lighting provided by billboards provide security and visibility to many motorists. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) went on record (Federal Register, March 5, 1999) stating that the agency agrees that appropriately regulated billboards do not compromise highway safety. It should be noted that this statement was made before the release of the FHWA report 'Research review of potential safety effects of electronic billboards on driver attention and distraction'  in 2001. What level of regulation is appropriate for billboards in different areas is still under discussion by road safety experts around the world.

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