Effect of Static Electronic Advertising Signs on Road Safety

Abstract

As technology continues to advance, the outdoor advertising industry is taking advantage of electronic signs, some of which are static electronic signs (SES), with the ability to automatically change the message shown on the sign at regular intervals. Studies indicate that SES has a negative impact on the drivers' visual attention and on vehicle control. However, the actual effects of the SES on the number of collisions have been difficult to prove conclusively. The objective of this article is to generate a clear understanding of the safety impacts of SES on the number collisions by conducting a before-and-after analysis with comparison groups. The analysis was based on a total of 10 SES along the Highway 27 and the Gardiner Expressway of the city of Toronto. The results of the before-and-after study revealed that there was not enough evidence to suggest that these signs have any impact on road safety along the adjacent roadway sections at a 95% confidence interval. The same results were obtained by comparing collisions that occurred during daylight and artificial light.

Assessing the Influence of Roadside Advertising on Traffic Distraction and Its Interplay with Inside Vehicle Distractions: A Cross-Cultural Study in Jordan and Kuwait

“…A before and after statistical analysis with control groups was applied on road sites of different characteristics in Athens, Greece, to investigate the correlation Journal of Transportation Technologies between the placement or removal of advertising signs and road accident occurrence; it shows no statistical correlation between road accidents and advertising signs in none of the examined sites [16]. A similar study, before and after with the control group, in Toronto, Canada, suggested that static electronic signs do not impact road safety along the adjacent roadway sections [17]. However, crash risks increase near static digital billboards [18].…”

Are longer advertising slogans more dangerous? The influence of the length of ad slogans on drivers’ attention and motor behavior

“…The second factor can be controlled by legislative solutions. The message design includes: movement, light emission, shape of the carrier, and location (Crundall et al 2006;Izadpanah et al 2014;Smiley et al 2005), all of which engage bottom-up attention, as well as the content of advertisements which activates top-down processing (Shinoda et al 2001).…”

Social attitudes towards roadside advertising

“…This leads to the question as to how roadside advertisements influence road safety. Statistical analysis of the number of accidents and behaviour changes reveal some decrease in driver effectiveness in the presence of roadside advertising [1,2], however, other data suggest the contrary [3]. Driving simulator studies show that in the context of roadside advertising, drivers show more behaviours resulting from inattention [4], memorize traffic signs less effectively and feel more tired [5][6][7], but in each of the studies, some other indicators of driving effectiveness remain unaffected.…”