A report on FairWarning calls attention to a study from Sweden revealing that drivers stare longer at \u00a0electronic billboards which may, in turn, increase the risk of a crash. In response the U.S. billboard industry has cited \u201can unpublished U.S. government study\u201d that purports to deny that these displays affect traffic safety. The wrinkle is that the study remains unpublished because \u201cexpert reviewers concluded that its key findings were not believable.\u201d The problem is not yet a large one because probably not more than about 3000 of the 400,000 billboards in the U.S. are electronic, flashing \u201ca new message every six to eight seconds.\u201d It is important to stress that the Swedish study did not claim the signs were actually a danger but reaffirms that they \u201cattract more glances than the other signs.\u201d This is no excuse, however, for the industry to use questionable research in its defense.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A report on FairWarning calls attention to a study from Sweden revealing that drivers stare longer at \u00a0electronic billboards which may, in turn, increase the risk of a crash. In response the U.S. billboard industry has cited \u201can unpublished U.S. government study\u201d that purports to deny that these displays affect traffic safety. The wrinkle is […]<\/p>\n