Research Review Of Potential Safety Effects Of Electronic Billboards On Driver Attention And Distraction

FINAL REPORT

September 11, 2001

Submitted to:

Office of Real Estate Services
and
Safety Core Business Unit
Federal Highway Administration

From:

Human Centered Systems Team
Office of Safety Research and Development
Federal Highway Administration

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary

1 Introduction
1.1 Background and Objectives
1.2 Structure of the Report

2 Literature Review
2.1 Types of Electronic Billboards
2.2 State Regulations and Policies on Electronic Billboards
2.2.1 Introduction
2.2.2 Sources of Information
2.2.3 State Regulations and Practices
2.2.4 National Alliance of Highway Beautification Agencies
2.2.5 State Outdoor Advertising Regulations
2.2.6 Concerns about Electronic Billboards
2.3 Reports on Billboards and Safety
2.3.1 The Wachtel and Netherton Report
2.3.2 Wisconsin DOT Report
2.3.3 The Curriden Article
2.4 Potential Safety Factors
2.4.1 Distraction
2.4.2 Conspicuity of Displays
2.4.3 Legibility
2.5 The Driver
2.5.1 Driver Age
2.5.2 Driver Familiarity with Route
2.6 Measures of Effectiveness
2.6.1 Surrogates
2.6.2 Current Measurement of Distraction

3 Synthesis

4 Research Needs
4.1 Roadway Characteristics
4.2 EBB and Tri-vision Sign Characteristics
4.3 Research Findings in Legibility
4.4 Driver Characteristics
4.5 Other Potential Driver Distractions
4.6 Future Research
4.7 Research Methods

5 Annotated Bibliography

Appendix A: Examples ofelectronic billboards

Appendix B: Outdoor Advertising: Standard Definition

Appendix C: Results of State Statutory Review

References

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. Timing Boundaries of Several Tri-Vision Billboard Policies
Table 2. Recommended Minimum Luminance Values (cd/m2) for CMS Visibility

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Notice

This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The United States Government assumes no liability for its contents or use thereof. This report does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation. The United States Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade and manufacturers' names appear in this report only because they are considered essential to the object of the document.

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