• The Associated Press, Thursday, February 19, 2009 9:45 AM

Supergraphics and digital signs are among the new generation of public ads infuriating critics across the country who say the "billboard blight" distracts drivers, hurts the ambiance of streets and could hinder rescue crews.

Kevin Fry, chief of anti-billboard group Scenic America, said Los Angeles has the worst billboard problem in the country. L.A. currently has a moratorium on new ads as the city considers banning digital billboards in most parts of neighborhoods and imposing limits on the number and size of traditional billboards. The city's planning commission is reviewing the proposed rules today. Past efforts largely collapsed after court challenges by the billboard industry.

Advertisers counter that new billboard technologies help businesses reach consumers in an age when TiVo users can skip through commercials and newspaper ads are reaching fewer readers. They insist that safety fears are exaggerated, and note that the courts have repeatedly sided with them. Opposition to billboards isn't limited to auto-obsessed Southern California. Criticism has also has surfaced in New York, Cleveland, San Antonio and Omaha.

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