Gail Chiasson, North American Editor
Several detailed new short and long term traffic studies showing that digital billboards – confusingly referred to in some studies as Commercial Electronic Variable Message Signs (CEVMS), had no effect on traffic accidents, have resulted in New York State, Massachusetts and several other states relaxing or changing their rulings regarding the criteria of such boards.
This is good news for the outdoor industry which has, in many cases, been held back because of city and state governments asking for such studies and, often, uninformed groups fighting installation of such boards without having solid facts to back up their arguments.
As of Jan. 1/15, New York State has updated its regulation of digital billboards to allow rotation of static messages every eight seconds instead of once in 24 hours, and the Outdoor Advertising Association of America says that OOH advertising media companies with digital billboards in New York have changed to eight-second rotations.
Studies have shown that it takes at least six seconds to read and comprehend a billboard. However, the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) believes eight seconds is a more appropriate minimum static time due to the extra complexity involved with processing an electronic medium.
Prior to its new policy, the NYSDOT studied accident records and found no change in crash patterns near digital billboards, although, of course, recommended continued monitoring. Its conclusion was: “Limited data suggests that there is no change in the crash patterns in the vicinity of the off-premise CEVMS billboards.”
However, “CEVMS are subject to the provisions contained in 17 NYCRR Part 150 and all other applicable Federal and State regulations and agreements regarding advertising signs adjacent to highways.” Local ordinances will govern if they are more stringent than the new ruling by NYSDOT.
After several studies and consultations with the billboard companies and manufacturers of DOOH boards, there has been agreement as to their maximum brightness in both day and night viewing, as well as the spacing of boards. If a CEVMS only changes advertising copy once in a 24-hour period, or less frequently, it will be considered as a conventional board but will still have to follow the new brightness criteria.
In terms of spacing, for example, if more than one CEVMS sign face is visible to the driver at the same time on either side of the highway, the signs must be spaced at least 2500’ apart on controlled access highways, and at least 300’ apart on other types of highways. No special prohibitions/conventional billboard regulations apply, with the exception of adding a 500’ prohibition around toll plazas on controlled-access highways
Further, the brightness of this technology should be constrained such that CEVMS do not appear brighter to drivers than existing static billboards. This comes to 280 candelas per square meter during the nighttime. And, In general, 1,500 NITS provides readable text in outdoor daylight, while grayscale and outdoor video require up to 5,000 NITs for acceptable color depth. (Note: 1 NIT = 1 cd/m2). Research indicated that numerous municipalities around the US have already codified 5000 cd/m2 as the maximum daytime brightness for CEVMS.
Five other states recently updated regulations of digital billboards or adopted new rules to keep pace with technology.
Like New York, Massachusetts looked at accident records. A 2011 report from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation said traffic engineers found no detrimental safety impacts of digital billboards. Massachusetts adopted regulations in 2013 to allow digital billboards. The state has been studying the topic in depth since 2008.
Colorado, Missouri, Nevada, and New Mexico also recently approved digital billboard regulations. In Colorado, new regulations are scheduled of take effect February 14, 2015. A Nevada law enacted in 2014 called for new regulations, which are pending. Nearly all states that permit billboards have digital billboard regulations.
Further, federal Department of Transportation research, based on eye-glance analysis, did not find digital billboards distracting.
“Studies have long shown that digital billboards do not cause distracted driving,” says the OAAA. “The new federal Department of Transport study released on Dec. 30/14 comes to the same conclusion.”
The various studies noted such things as rear-end, overtaking, and fixed object collisions could be contributed to driver distraction (internal or external to the vehicles) but these types of accidents were prominent before and after Digital Billboard installations.
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