Have you noticed a steady increase in the number of digital billboards along the roadside? It is almost impossible not to. That is why more and more advertisers are turning to them.
Imagine you work for a company, and your boss puts you in charge of boosting sales. You contact an advertising agency, and they give you two choices. You can use a traditional billboard that will grab the attention of a certain percentage of passing drivers and hold it for a specific amount of time.
Or, you can pay a bit more for a digital billboard that will grab the attention of a higher percentage of drivers and hold it for longer. Provided the cost is reasonable, it is clear that you stand to gain more from a digital billboard.
That is great for someone looking to attract customers but not so good for anyone passing those roadside billboards. A Swedish study found digital billboards often kept drivers’ attention for over two seconds. Many digital billboards also change their message every few seconds, so they can take someone’s attention for another few seconds if the traffic is slow enough.
Anything that distracts drivers is dangerous
The longer someone’s eyes are off the road, the higher their chance of crashing. If you want proof, go to a busy sidewalk and watch people walking around with their eyes glued to their phone. Count how many seconds before they need to look up to avoid bumping into someone.
Drivers are not responsible for roadside billboards. Yet they are responsible for where they focus. If you ceded to every distraction when working, you would get nothing done, so you learn to ignore them. Drivers must do the same. If they don’t and injure you in a crash, you need to find out how to claim compensation.