The Possible Effects of Commercial Electronic Variable Message Signs (CEVMS) on Driving Safety - Phase 1
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Foreword
The Highway Beautification Act of 1965 outlined control of outdoor advertising, including removal of certain types of advertising signs, along the Interstate Highway System and the existing Federal-aid primary roadway system. Since that time, most States have evolved a body of legislation and/or regulations to control off-premise outdoor advertising (billboards), and many local governments have developed similar rules.
The advent of new electronic billboard technologies, in particular the digital Light-Emitting Diode (LED) billboard, has necessitated a reevaluation of current legislation and regulation for controlling outdoor advertising. In this case, one of the concerns is possible driver distraction.
In the context of the present report, outdoor advertising signs employing this new advertising technology are referred to as Commercial Electronic Variable Message Signs (CEVMS). They are also commonly referred to as Digital Billboards (DBB) and Electronic Billboards (EBB).
The present report reviews research concerning the possible effects of CEVMS used for outdoor advertising on driver safety, including possible attention and distraction effects. The report consists of an update of earlier published work, an investigation of applicable research methods and techniques, recommendations for future research, and an extensive bibliography. The report should be of interest to highway engineers, traffic engineers, highway safety specialists, the outdoor advertising industry, environmental advocates, Federal policy makers, and State and local regulators of outdoor advertising.
Michael F. Trentacoste
Director, Office of Safety Research and Development
Gerald Solomon
Director, Office of Real Estate Services
Notice
This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The U.S. Government assumes no liability for the use of the information contained in this document.
The U.S. Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Trademarks or manufacturers' names appear in this report only because they are considered essential to the objective of the document.
Quality Assurance Statement
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) provides high-quality information to serve Government, industry, and the public in a manner that promotes public understanding. Standards and policies are used to ensure and maximize the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of its information. FHWA periodically reviews quality issues and adjusts its programs and processes to ensure continuous quality improvement.
Technical Report Documentation Page
1. Report No. FHWA-HRT-09-018 |
2. Government Accession No. | 3. Recipient's Catalog No. | ||||
4. Title and Subtitle The Effects of Commercial Electronic Variable Message Signs (CEVMS) on Driver Attention and Distraction: An Update |
5. Report Date February 2009 |
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6. Performing Organization Code: | ||||||
7. Author(s) John A. Molino, Jerry Wachtel, John E. Farbry, Megan B. Hermosillo, Thomas M. Granda | 8. Performing Organization Report No. | |||||
9. Performing Organization Name and Address Human Centered Systems Team Office of Safety Research and Development Federal Highway Administration 6300 Georgetown Pike McLean, VA 22101-2296 |
10. Work Unit No. | |||||
11. Contract or Grant No. | ||||||
12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address Office of Real Estate Services Federal Highway Administration 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20590 |
13. Type of Report and Period Covered Final Report, Phase I January 2008–October 2008 |
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14. Sponsoring Agency Code | ||||||
15. Supplementary Notes FHWA Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR): Thomas M. Granda, Safety Research and Development, FHWA |
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16. Abstract The present report reviews research concerning the possible effects of Commercial Electronic Variable Message Signs (CEVMS) used for outdoor advertising on driver safety. Such CEVMS displays are alternatively known as Electronic Billboards (EBB) and Digital Billboards (DBB). The report consists of an update of earlier published work, a review of applicable research methods and techniques, recommendations for future research, and an extensive bibliography. The literature review update covers recent post-hoc crash studies, field investigations, laboratory investigations, previous literature reviews, and reviews of practice. The present report also examines the key factors or independent variables that might affect a driver's response to CEVMS, as well as the key measures or dependent variables which may serve as indicators of driver safety, especially those that might reflect attention or distraction. These key factors and measures were selected, combined, and integrated into a set of alternative research strategies. Based on these strategies, as well as on the review of the literature, a proposed three stage program of research has been developed to address the problem. The present report also addresses CEVMS programmatic and research study approaches. In terms of an initial research study, three candidate methodologies are discussed and compared. These are: (1) an on-road instrumented vehicle study, (2) a naturalistic driving study, and (3) an unobtrusive observation study. An analysis of the relative advantages and disadvantages of each study approach indicated that the on-road instrumented vehicle approach was the best choice for answering the research question at the first stage. |
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17. Key Words Commercial Electronic Variable Message Signs, CEVMS, Digital Billboards, DBB, Electronic Billboards, EBB, Driver Attention, Driver Distraction, Driver Safety, Outdoor Advertising |
18. Distribution Statement No restrictions. This document is available through the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161. |
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19. Security Classif. (of this report) Unclassified |
20. Security Classif. (of this page) Unclassified |
21. No. of Pages 94 |
22. Price N/A |
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Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) | Reproduction of completed page authorized |
SI* (Modern Metric) Conversion Factors
Approximate Conversions to SI Units
Symbol | When you know | Multiply by | To Find | Symbol |
---|---|---|---|---|
Length | ||||
in | inches | 25.4 | millimeters | mm |
ft | feet | 0.305 | meters | m |
yd | yards | 0.914 | meters | m |
mi | miles | 1.61 | kilometers | km |
Area | ||||
in2 | square inches | 645.2 | square millimeters | mm2 |
ft2 | square feet | 0.093 | square meters | m2 |
yd2 | square yard | 0.836 | square meters | m2 |
ac | acres | 0.405 | hectares | ha |
mi2 | square miles | 2.59 | square kilometers | km2 |
Volume | ||||
fl oz | fluid ounces | 29.57 | milliliters | mL |
gal | gallons | 3.785 | liters | L |
ft3 | cubic feet | 0.028 | cubic meters | m3 |
yd3 | cubic yards | 0.765 | cubic meters | m3 |
NOTE: volumes greater than 1000 L shall be shown in m3 | ||||
Mass | ||||
oz | ounces | 28.35 | grams | g |
lb | pounds | 0.454 | kilograms | kg |
T | short tons (2000 lb) | 0.907 | megagrams (or "metric ton") | Mg (or "t") |
Temperature (exact degrees) | ||||
oF | Fahrenheit | 5 (F-32)/9 or (F-32)/1.8 |
Celsius | oC |
Illumination | ||||
fc | foot-candles | 10.76 | lux | lx |
fl | foot-Lamberts | 3.426 | candela/m2 | cd/m2 |
Force and Pressure or Stress | ||||
lbf | poundforce | 4.45 | newtons | N |
lbf/in2 | poundforce per square inch | 6.89 | kilopascals | kPa |
Approximate Conversions From SI Units
Symbol | When you know | Multiply by | To Find | Symbol |
---|---|---|---|---|
LENGTH | ||||
mm | millimeters | 0.039 | inches | in |
m | meters | 3.28 | feet | ft |
m | meters | 1.09 | yards | yd |
km | kilometers | 0.621 | miles | mi |
Area | ||||
mm2 | square millimeters | 0.0016 | square inches | in2 |
m2 | square meters | 10.764 | square feet | ft2 |
m2 | square meters | 1.195 | square yards | yd2 |
ha | hectares | 2.47 | acres | ac |
km2 | square kilometers | 0.386 | square miles | mi2 |
Volume | ||||
mL | milliliters | 0.034 | fluid ounces | fl oz |
L | liters | 0.264 | gallons | gal |
m3 | cubic meters | 35.314 | cubic feet | ft3 |
m3 | cubic meters | 1.307 | cubic yards | yd3 |
Mass | ||||
g | grams | 0.035 | ounces | oz |
kg | kilograms | 2.202 | pounds | lb |
Mg (or "t") | megagrams (or "metric ton") | 1.103 | short tons (2000 lb) | T |
Temperature (exact degrees) | ||||
oC | Celsius | 1.8C+32 | Fahrenheit | oF |
Illumination | ||||
lx | lux | 0.0929 | foot-candles | fc |
cd/m2 | candela/m2 | 0.2919 | foot-Lamberts | fl |
Force and Pressure or Stress | ||||
N | newtons | 0.225 | poundforce | lbf |
kPa | kilopascals | 0.145 | poundforce per square inch | lbf/in2 |
*SI is the symbol for the International System of Units. Appropriate rounding should be made to comply with Section 4 of ASTM E380.
(Revised March 2003)
Table of Contents
- 1.0 Introduction
- 2.0 Literature Review Update
- 3.0 Key Factors and Measures
- 4.0 Research Strategies
- 5.0 Future Research Program
- 6.0 Recommended First Stage Study
- 7.0 Conclusions
Appendix
- Appendix A - Expanded Tables
- Appendix B - Detailed Description of Studies
- Acknowledgements
- References
- Bibliography
List of Tables
- Table 1. Expanded key factors (independent variables)
- Table 2. Expanded key measures (dependent variables)
- Table 3. Expanded key research strategies
To provide Feedback, Suggestions or Comments for this page contact Catherine A. O'Hara (catherine.o'hara@dot.gov).