DRIVEN TO DISTRACTION Digital Billboards, Diversions Drivers Can't Escape By MATT RICHTEL March 2, 2010
Safety advocates who worry about the dangers of distracted driving have a new concern beyond cellphones and gadget-laden dashboards: digital roadside billboards. These high-tech billboards marry the glow of Times Square with the immediacy of the Internet. Images change every six to eight seconds, so advertisers can flash timely messages - like the latest headlines, coffee deals at dawn, a cheeseburger at lunchtime or even the song playing on a radio station at that moment. The billboard industry asserts there is no research indicating they cause crashes, and notes that the signs do not use video or animation. But to critics, these ever-changing, bright billboards are "television on a stick" and give drivers, many of them already calling and texting, yet another reason to take their eyes off the road. Abby Dart, executive director of Scenic Michigan, a nonprofit group trying to block construction of new digital billboards in the state, calls the signs "weapons of mass distraction" and says they can be more dangerous than phones. ... http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/02/technology/02billboard.html *********************************** * POST TO MEDIANEWS@ETSKYWARN.NET * *********************************** Medianews mailing list Medianews@etskywarn.net http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
