Do billboards cause accidents?

BY JOHN BRAIMAH

Digital billboards were the turning point of the global advertising industry since their debut. Advertising companies across the world have been in silent competition to outdo each other in size, brilliance and innovation in the display of their colorful LED screens in strategic city centers, highways and rural regions. Digital billboards are an attraction during the day and even a better sight at night as their radiant colours add to the beauty of a city.

Since the advent of digital billboards, much concern has been raised about the risks they pose to road users especially to those behind the wheel. Thus, the question, do billboards cause road accidents?

There is no documented correlation between digital billboards and fatal traffic accidents anywhere in the world. Billboards have never been blamed as immediate or remote causes of traffic accidents since their debut.

Various safety entities from the outdoor advertising industry and regulatory boards across the world have conducted their own studies since the emergence of digital billboards over the past 2 decades and have concluded that it is safe for commuters and can pose no threat to road safety.

Independent researchers, Governments’ multinational agencies and private firms have also conducted several research and have arrived at the same conclusion that digital billboards are safe.

For the fact check to be complete, we will pick on the following indices.

BILLBOARD DISTRACTION AND TRAFFIC SAFETY

Yes, it is true that billboards draw people’s attention. Whether they are static or moving is not the cause of debate. The question is, will a glance at a billboard while driving down the road lead to an accident?

An average driver is distracted by a lot of things while he is, whether it’s the passengers in the backseat or he’s trying to change the radio. The red line is crossed if billboards distract enough to result in traffic fatalities.
And researchers all over the world have been unable to make a direct connection between these distractions and fatal crashes. They have, in some instances, noted that billboards are more likely to be present in cases of accidents. But they cannot say the boards are the remote or immediate cause of such accidents.

A 2015 study by the University of Alabama at Birmingham noted a greater likelihood of the presence of billboards at crash sites but also noted severe crashes occurred at low rates. Researchers also indicated there was no evidence that billboards caused the accidents, because so many factors come into play.

“Local conditions, experimental settings, and other factors may play a role in the actual impact that digital advertising billboards have on traffic safety,” the report concluded.

The lead researcher in the study told the Orlando Sentinel, “it is not easy to establish a clear link” between traffic safety and billboards.

BILLBOARDS ARE A MINOR DISTRACTION

The literature on billboards and crashes return again and again to the same conclusion: Yes, they do provide a distraction but not enough of one to be a safety hazard.

A study on traffic safety concluded, “Billboard-related distraction appeared to be minor and regulated by drivers as the demands of the driving task changed.”

What does this mean exactly? That drivers have become used to billboards. They check them out, but they have learned to do so in a manner that does not impair their ability to operate the vehicle.

This represents an important distinction from cause and effect. Billboards are not causing people to veer out of their lanes.

Indeed, a study presented at the 2015 Australasian Road Safety Conference found the average amount of time a driver looks at a billboard — less than .75 seconds — is not enough to impact their ability to react to an unexpected event. A glance at a billboard can not distract the driver enough to lead to an accident.

In March, 2017, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Abuja raised concerns about wrong placement of advertising billboards and posters in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The FCT Sector Commander of the corps, Mr Sunday Oghenekaro, said that some of the billboards and posters in Abuja were blocking road traffic signs and warnings.

Others, according to Oghenekaro, are placed on the railings of pedestrian and flyover bridges thereby providing cover for criminals to attack innocent citizens on such bridges.

That being said, the FRSC was only concerned about the indiscriminate display of billboards especially those that block important road traffic signs. Billboards placed at approved locations pose no threat to the safety and security of road users whether during the day or at night.

BILLBOARDS DO NOT CAUSE ACCIDENTS

If there were any credible evidence tying billboards to an increase in driver fatalities, these boards would be widely banned worldwide even before they enter the Nigerian Advertising industry. The cost of a human life is way too high to justify the risk.

But no research supports that conclusion. The majority of researchers agree that the impact of billboards on driving warrants future study, but evidence so far supports their continued presence on the roads. These studies have been going on for upwards of a decade, too. Barring a major and unexpected behavioral change from drivers, that evidence will not change.

Billboards do not cause accidents, have never caused accidents and it is very unlikely that in the nearest future they will cause accidents. To this end, there is no evidence correlating fatal accidents with billboards whether digital or static.