Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Carlsbad Rejects Electronic Sign

The City of Carlsbad has rejected the use of electronic billboards:


Their decision was based on aesthetics, but any sign designed to attract and hold a driver's attention should be considered a driving safety hazard too. I'm not aware of any study linking animated signs to traffic accidents, but this study demonstrated that such signs effectively hold a driver's attention longer than other advertising:


It's worth noting that although the electronic billboard study did not run long enough to establish a link between signs and accidents, the Swedish Road Association had enough information to act:
Based on the results reported in this article, along with the results from other studies, the Swedish authorities decided not to extend the test period and to remove the electronic billboards under investigation.
jg

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