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From: www.theglobeandmail.com/s...l/Ontario/
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They're signs of the times, but how dangerous are they?
JEFF GRAY
The video billboards along the Gardiner Expressway give the elevated drag strip a futuristic feel. But the city's traffic officials think the growing number of roadside movie screens could dangerously distract drivers and so need further study.
The last study the city commissioned on the safety of video signs, in 2003, showed no conclusive link between the number of accidents and the screens' placement.
But the study, produced by an outside firm, also analyzed drivers' eye movements at four video-billboard locations, and found that glances at the flashy signs lasted three-quarters of a second longer than those at other billboards.
It may not sound like much, but at high speeds, three-quarters of a second is "a very long time," said Les Kelman, director of the city's traffic management centre. At 100 kilometres an hour, in just one second a car will travel 28 metres, or more than 90 feet.
That is more than enough space to slam catastrophically into a suddenly braking car. But the billboards may actually be more of a concern on slower roads -- at downtown intersections, where they keep popping up.
The last thing downtown drivers need is another potential distraction, with pedestrians jaywalking, cyclists zipping by, cars turning, buses merging, streetcar doors opening.
"If there is one place where drivers need to have 100 per cent attention, it is at downtown intersections," Mr. Kelman said in an interview.
So what about the city's study, which looked at video billboards downtown and on expressways and couldn't find any increase in accidents? He said the numbers may be deceiving, since police collision statistics used in the study do not go into enough detail to determine whether a video billboard was the real cause of an accident.
Mr. Kelman said it took a couple of decades before there were enough drivers using cellphones to produce enough data for studies to link the distraction they cause to traffic accidents.
So city transportation officials plan to ask council for cash to help fund future studies of the dangers of video billboards, perhaps in co-operation with other cities.
Toronto already asks the operators of video billboards along the expressways under its control to voluntarily tone down their brightness in response to complaints from motorists and from people who live nearby. But the number of these signs is clearly growing on Toronto streets and along its expressways, even though the province has simply banned them along its highways.
And there seems to be little question that driving while distracted, whatever the cause, is a major factor in accidents. The Canadian Automobile Association recently launched a safety campaign warning drivers to keep their eyes on the road, instead of on stereo controls, iPod display screens, text messages, cellphone conversations and the rest.
Video billboards carrying advertising are explicitly designed by experts to attract attention, although Dr. Gridlock has never once felt so entranced by one that his car or passengers were put at risk. Still, there are other, aesthetic reasons to oppose them, as part of the accelerating invasion of advertising into public space, for example.
Mr. Kelman suggested the whole debate over the safety of video billboards is happening backward, since it is up to the city to figure out whether the signs are a danger to drivers: "If we did what we do with the drug and food industries, then the onus would be on the industry to prove it is safe."
_________________
They're signs of the times, but how dangerous are they?
JEFF GRAY
The video billboards along the Gardiner Expressway give the elevated drag strip a futuristic feel. But the city's traffic officials think the growing number of roadside movie screens could dangerously distract drivers and so need further study.
The last study the city commissioned on the safety of video signs, in 2003, showed no conclusive link between the number of accidents and the screens' placement.
But the study, produced by an outside firm, also analyzed drivers' eye movements at four video-billboard locations, and found that glances at the flashy signs lasted three-quarters of a second longer than those at other billboards.
It may not sound like much, but at high speeds, three-quarters of a second is "a very long time," said Les Kelman, director of the city's traffic management centre. At 100 kilometres an hour, in just one second a car will travel 28 metres, or more than 90 feet.
That is more than enough space to slam catastrophically into a suddenly braking car. But the billboards may actually be more of a concern on slower roads -- at downtown intersections, where they keep popping up.
The last thing downtown drivers need is another potential distraction, with pedestrians jaywalking, cyclists zipping by, cars turning, buses merging, streetcar doors opening.
"If there is one place where drivers need to have 100 per cent attention, it is at downtown intersections," Mr. Kelman said in an interview.
So what about the city's study, which looked at video billboards downtown and on expressways and couldn't find any increase in accidents? He said the numbers may be deceiving, since police collision statistics used in the study do not go into enough detail to determine whether a video billboard was the real cause of an accident.
Mr. Kelman said it took a couple of decades before there were enough drivers using cellphones to produce enough data for studies to link the distraction they cause to traffic accidents.
So city transportation officials plan to ask council for cash to help fund future studies of the dangers of video billboards, perhaps in co-operation with other cities.
Toronto already asks the operators of video billboards along the expressways under its control to voluntarily tone down their brightness in response to complaints from motorists and from people who live nearby. But the number of these signs is clearly growing on Toronto streets and along its expressways, even though the province has simply banned them along its highways.
And there seems to be little question that driving while distracted, whatever the cause, is a major factor in accidents. The Canadian Automobile Association recently launched a safety campaign warning drivers to keep their eyes on the road, instead of on stereo controls, iPod display screens, text messages, cellphone conversations and the rest.
Video billboards carrying advertising are explicitly designed by experts to attract attention, although Dr. Gridlock has never once felt so entranced by one that his car or passengers were put at risk. Still, there are other, aesthetic reasons to oppose them, as part of the accelerating invasion of advertising into public space, for example.
Mr. Kelman suggested the whole debate over the safety of video billboards is happening backward, since it is up to the city to figure out whether the signs are a danger to drivers: "If we did what we do with the drug and food industries, then the onus would be on the industry to prove it is safe."