At a time when the outdoor advertising industry is looking to digital signage for growth while municipalities increasingly look at restricting digital signs, a new study indicates there is no correlation between digital signs and accident rates. A study by Tantala Associates, paid for by the industry-funded Foundation for Outdoor Advertising Research and Education, analyzed about 18,000 traffic accidents in the Rochester, N.Y., area over a five-year period. It found no correlation between traffic accidents and digital signage, with data actually showing a tiny decrease in accidents within a half-mile radius of digital billboards. Similar results were found two years ago in a study by Virginia Tech's Center for Automotive Safety Research, which found that behavior patterns did not change substantially in the presence of digital signs. For more information, contact David Hickey. |