Digital Advertising Billboards and Driver Distraction

There is growing concern that roadside advertising presents a real risk to driving safety, with conservative estimates putting external distractions responsible for up to 10% of all traffic incidents. Studies confirm that 23% of crashes and near-crashes that occur in metropolitan environments are attributable to eyes off the forward roadway greater than two seconds. Nearly 80% of the crashes and 65% of near crashes were caused by distractions that made the driver look away for up to three seconds. An objective evaluation is still needed to determine if the presence of digital billboards really distracts driver’s attention or not and, if distraction occurs, then to what extent. Using a multi-state, multi-facet approach, this project studied the correlation between the presence of digital billboards and traffic safety through literature review, crash data analysis, driver survey, empirical study using a driving simulator, and statistical analysis. The literature review confirmed that the relationship between digital billboards and driver distraction is very complex and suggested that additional studies are needed to look at the issue in a comprehensive and objective way while taking under consideration local conditions. The crash data analysis at 18 study sites in Alabama and Florida revealed that the presence of digital billboards is correlated with an increase in crash rates in areas of billboard influence (compared to control areas downstream of the digital billboard location). Moreover, certain types of crashes such as sideswipe and rear-end crashes were found to be overrepresented at digital advertising billboard influence zones compared to control sites. The analysis of two questionnaire surveys produced interesting insights regarding the perceptions and attitudes of drivers with respect to digital advertising billboards. Among other findings, road users perceived digital billboards as more dangerous than their static counterparts and recommended stricter regulations of digital advertising billboards. The driving simulation study was among the first to look at to billboard distraction across different age groups. The results of the analyses indicated that billboards significantly impacted driver visual attention. Teens were most likely to divert more of their gaze towards billboards, especially digital billboards. Findings show that teen drivers spend a significantly greater percentage of their drive looking at billboards compared to other age groups, regardless of the type of billboard presented. Overall, the findings of the study provide dependable evidence based on which informed decisions on use of digital advertising billboards can be made in the future.

• Record URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/36939
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This document was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers Program.
• Corporate Authors:

  University of Alabama, Birmingham

  Birmingham, AL  United States  35294

  Florida International University

  Miami, FL  United States 

  Alabama Department of Transportation

  1409 Coliseum Boulevard
  Montgomery, AL  United States  36130-3050

  Florida Department of Transportation

  605 Suwannee Street
  Tallahassee, FL  United States  32399-0450

  National Center for Transportation Systems Productivity and Management

  Georgia Institute of Technology
  790 Atlantic Drive
  Atlanta, GA  United States  30332-0355

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Sisiopiku, Virginia P
  • Stavrinos, Despina
  • Sullivan, Andrew
  • Islam, Md Mozahidul
  • Wittig, Shannon M
  • Haleem, Kirolos
  • Gan, Albert
  • Alluri, Priyanka
• Publication Date: 2015-4

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 99p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash analysis; Distraction; Drivers; Driving simulators; Highway safety; Roadside advertising; Traffic crashes
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01644574
• Record Type: Publication
• Contract Numbers: DTRT12GUTC12
• Files: UTC, NTL, TRIS, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Aug 29 2017 10:09AM