Study: Digital Billboards Don't Cause Accidents

This week brought yet more evidence that digital billboards don't cause traffic accidents, courtesy of the Outdoor Advertising Association of America and Tantala Associates, which released a series of studies refuting critics who oppose digital billboards for reasons of safety.

The new study from Tantala examined eight years of law enforcement records documenting traffic accidents on state and local roads around Reading, Pennsylvania, analyzing the data to determine whether there were higher accident rates near 26 digital billboards.

As in previous studies, Tantala analyzed data documenting the location, time of day, and the direction and speed of the vehicles involved in each accident, including accidents on stretches of road where digital billboards are visible, as well as accidents elsewhere.

The company found no statistical correlation between accidents and visual exposure to digital billboards, by day or night.

Previously, Tantala performed similar studies analyzing accident data from Cleveland, Ohio, Rochester, Minnesota, and Albuquerque, New Mexico, all of which yielded the same conclusion.

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In Cleveland, Tantala reviewed police records for 60,000 traffic accidents taking place in the county over an eight-year period, comparing accident rates from a four-year period before digital billboards were installed with the four-year period following their installation.

In Rochester, Tantala reviewed police records documenting 18,000 traffic accidents that took place within a mile of digital billboards over a five-year period, and in Albuquerque, it reviewed police records documenting traffic accidents that took place within a mile of 17 digital billboards over a seven-year period. Again, both showed no statistical correlation between digital billboards and accidents.

Around the same time as the first Tantala study, Virginia Tech completed a survey about the effects of signs on drivers. Conducted by the Center for Automotive Safety Research at Virginia Tech's Transportation Institute, the study observed measures like eye-glance patterns, speed maintenance and lane-keeping, and found no substantial changes in behavior patterns in the presence of digital signage.

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