Recent regulatory changes have prompted inaccurate statements about the FHWA memo. The document clears the air, providing facts and dispelling myths about digital billboards.
Click here for the facts.
What People are Saying?
(Reporter Times.com, Mooresville, IN)
BZA president Jon Swisher said he had already gone through the questions of traffic safety in the case of the billboard near Lincoln Bank, and he did not feel it was a safety hazard.
Mark Harris, Mooresville Town Council president and also a member of the police department, said so far, there had been no accidents as a result of the LED billboard near Lincoln Bank.
Pennsylvania Mayor Endorses Digital Billboards as Good for the Community
Mayor Ed Pawlowski of Allentown, Pennsylvania, enthusiastically supported the installation of a digital billboard in downtown Allentown because he saw it as a way to revitalize the inner city and promote safety. “Due to the ability to rapidly change and deliver information,” Mayor Pawlowski wrote in a letter explaining his support for digital billboards, “electronic message boards have assisted local law enforcement with AMBER Alerts, emergency information about public safety and traffic information.”
"Clear Channel Outdoor has allowed our agency the complimentary use of their billboards to display photos and names of violent criminals, missing persons, or to solicit secret witness information. It is not only important in the event of a fleeing felon, but when we have abducted children or missing Alzheimer patients, time is crucial for success. The resource could be a lifeline for some of our most vulnerable citizens.
This is an exciting partnership that will allow us to move fast and efficiently if we need to sweep for information. The use of these billboards are a growing trend in law enforcement, ranging from the FBI to local Sheriff’s and Chiefs, with impressive results. The posting on the boards contribute to an environment where the criminal feels pressure that they have no where to go."
Michael Haley
Washoe County Sheriff
Reno, NV
Link to the Sheriffs letter
“…in my conversations with the deputy chief in charge of our traffic units, certainly over the last five years that we’ve done research, we have found no instances of traffic collisions being caused as a result of inattentiveness for billboards. ‘The electronic billboards have gone up on city streets, eight of them, and since they’ve been up over the last several months, we have had no instances that they have contributed to any driver inattention that has resulted in a collision. So I don’t believe that that’s an issue. Certainly not within the City of El Paso.”
- RICHARD WILES, CHIEF OF POLICE OF EL PASO, TX, IN TESTIMONY BEFORE THE TEXAS TRASPORTATION COMMISSION (DECEMBER 6, 2007)
Click here for Chief Wiles letter to TXDOT.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has partnered with the outdoor industry to identify wanted criminals. As agent Michael Mason explained on a December 24, 2007 piece on the Today Show: “You can place them near the scene of the crime. You can place them near the scene of the problem. And as a result, the people seeing the billboard are going to be people who should have some familiarity with the problem.”
Click here for complete story.
A Dubuque County election official seems taken with the idea of informing the general public of the caucus results with the flash of a digital screen.
"They'll be getting the information out quicker and to a wider audience," said Tom O'Neill, Dubuque County deputy commissioner of elections.
“…in my conversations with the deputy chief in charge of our traffic units, certainly over the last five years that we’ve done research, we have found no instances of traffic collisions being caused as a result of inattentiveness for billboards. ‘The electronic billboards have gone up on city streets, eight of them, and since they’ve been up over the last several months, we have had no instances that they have contributed to any driver inattention that has resulted in a collision. So I don’t believe that that’s an issue. Certainly not within the City of El Paso.”
- RICHARD WILES, CHIEF OF POLICE OF EL PASO, TX, IN TESTIMONY BEFORE THE TEXAS TRASPORTATION COMMISSION (DECEMBER 6, 2007)
Click here for Chief Wiles letter to TXDOT.
“We simply allowed an existing permissibility to be extended to these newer signs because they’re so similar to the ones that were already allowed. For us to ban one and not the other…would have been very inconsistent,”
- FHWA SPOKESMAN DOUG HECOX, STATELINE.ORG, DECEMBER 3, 2007
Meanwhile, states are following this matter as well. Enclosed are testimonials from officials that have been conducting internal investigations on traffic safety:“Our study has turned up no accidents reported to local police in the vicinity of the digital signs we’ve been monitoring,” said JAMES R. BARRETT, C.P.E.S.C, REGULATORY AND COMPLIANCE MANAGER, ASSETT MANAGEMENT DIVISION, VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, (SEPTEMBER 24, 2007)
“A comparison was made between the six-month period following installation of the digital billboards with the same timeframe from the prior year – and based on the period of review does not highlight a problem with the digital billboards.”
- DIPAK PATEL, DEPUTY STATE HIGHWAY ENGINEER, SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, (SEPTEMBER 6, 2007)
“With a year behind us, we have no knowledge of any wreck or any complaints of wrecks or any distractions at any of the billboard sites,” said BILL LIGHT, WEST VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS DIVISION CHIEF FOR OUTDOOR ADVERTISING, (JULY 24, 2007)
FHWA Greenlights Digital Billboards
