FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 20, 2009

Study: Digital Billboards Not Related to Traffic Accidents

Cleveland, OH - A new, exhaustive study from the consulting engineering firm Tantala Associates shows there to be no correlation between traffic accidents and digital billboards. The study looked at nearly 60,000 accidents in Cuyahoga County (Cleveland), OH, over an eight year period. It is the most extensive study to date looking at modern digital billboards.

“The more data that become available, the clearer the conclusions are,” said Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA) President and CEO Nancy Fletcher. “Digital billboards are not related to traffic accidents.”

The study examined all accidents in Cuyahoga County and accidents on the specific stretches of road where digital billboards are visible for the four years before the billboards were installed and the four years after. Accidents in the county, as a whole, have gone down in the last four years. Accidents where digital billboards are visible have also gone down.

Additionally, the study looked at two subsets of drivers: young drivers and senior drivers. The results there mirrored the results for all drivers ­ the number of accidents near digital billboards, like the rest of the county, went down. The study also looked at time of day and found no increase in accidents at night near digital billboards.

“Critics of digital billboards continue to make assertions without facts to back them up,” said Fletcher. “When making decisions about digital billboards, the decisions need to be based on facts ­ and the facts are digital billboards do not represent a dangerous driver distraction.”

For the complete study and to set up interviews with the researchers, contact Jeff Golimowski, OAAA Communications Director, or Ken Klein, OAAA Executive Vice President, Government Relations, at (202) 833-5566 or by email at jgolimowski@oaaa.org or kklein@oaaa.org.

OAAA
1850 M Street NW Suite 1040
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-833-5566
E-Mail: jgolimowski@oaaa.org
Website URL: www.oaaa.org