• 24
  • March
    2010

Do digital billboards distract drivers and cause car accidents? That is the question some cities are asking themselves and others have already answered.

In 16 cities across the country, including San Francisco, the answer has been a resounding yes. Six additional cities, including Los Angeles, have imposed morartoriums on digital billboards, and yet another three are considering such moratoriums.

For companies like Clear Channel and Lamar Advertising, this trend is bad news. Advertisers have staunchly maintained the stance that they operate well within the law and that such billboards do not distract drivers to a point that warrants a ban.

Cities in states like California, one of the first to regulate cellphone use in the car, have disagreed. San Francisco, for one, has banned new billboards since 2002 - digital or otherwise.

The draw for companies interested in digital billboards is the ease with which content can be uploaded and rotated. For example, most digital billboards rotate images every four-to-ten seconds. While a plus for advertisers, critics find the image rotation distracting. They worry that these billboards are causing some of the thousands of car accidents that occur every year due to distracted driving.

Thus far, tests haven't come down definitively on either side. The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that digital billboards were not distracting. Meanwhile, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials claim that they distract drivers and pull attention away from the road for an extended period of time.

So are digital billboards being unfairly grouped with cellphones and other electronics? The answer, as of yet, is not clear. However, more tests are being conducted and, for now, more cities seem to be leaning towards a "yes" answer.

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