I’ve been becoming more and more aware of these giant roadside electronic scoreboards – quick changes, small type that makes you concentrate if you really want to read it – they are a huge distraction.
Now are new report in the NY Times at this link:
http://www…rd.html?hp
I really like them, they glow in the daylight and are really pretty!
I am glad they don’t have them where I live. To me they are a source of visual blight.
I wish all cities had the sign ordinances of Scottsdale, AZ. No exposed neon signs allowed…even hanging on the inside of a window. I am sure these would not be allowed either. They are very strict on light pollution.
I can name a casino or four who NEED a night time brightness reduction control on those things !
They’re as bad as the stage lights in my face. I could not see the crowd out there.
With bright signage in your face one cannot see the road ahead as well at night.
Even one’s dashboard lights, when dimmed, allow for much better night vision.
As far as distraction goes, I don’t read them any more than standard print bill boards.
But they’re a safety hazzard.
The one good thing that I can say about the one on I-287 in South Plainfield, NJ is that one of the alternating “ads” is always an FBI notice displaying the mug shot of someone whom they are seeking to arrest. This is a very innovative update on the old “wanted posters” hanging (unread) on the wall at the local post office.
The revenue generated by these billboards is needed to pay for emergency services, the ones you need because you had a accident after being blinded or distracted by them.
Towns in our area are considering regulating them. There’s one near where I work, a real estate sign on 101A…a road with one of the highest traffic counts in the state, that’s absolutely dangerous. It’s almost blinding at night.
In my town there was an ordinance that said no electronic billboards. Then a local sign company installed one and after a while a citizen complained, no problem there. The town fathers puffed up their chests and said the sign needs to come down. After a bit they have popped up all over and they are eyesores thanks to out towns gutless wonders.
I don’t pay any attention to billboards electronic or otherwise when I’m driving so they don’t distract me, but I can see have flashing lights might distract someone.
But what to do about them, unless you can PROVE they are causing a danger there’s not much.
My opinions are subject to change with new facts.
They?re a huge distraction and should be only put at places where people stop for a break, close to motels maybe. Just my 2c.
We still have the paper or rotating ones (the ones where it’s multiple billboard ads but they change every minute or so) over here in the UK.
Yeah, and I would’ve thought that having them in rest areas would be more effective as well, as people are stopped and they’re often looking around.
Yeah, that is a good idea, especially as many hundreds (or thousands) of people would potentially pass by every day.
I find the much older “Burma Shave” repetative type billboards to be just as much of a distraction if not more so.
Are these electronic billboards more distracting than the BurmaShave signs? I did like the BurmaShave signs, but I don’t care for the electronic billboards. The advertising must do some good. Since the BurmaShave signs disappeared, I’ve noticed more men with beards. I suppose this is the theory behind the electronic billboards.
Or perhaps they disappeared because BurmaShave was absorbed by Phillip Morris in 1963.