Billboards are a fact of life and everyone expects to see advertising along the sides of highways. In recent years, however, billboards have transformed from relatively unobtrusive stationary ads to digital billboards with moving pictures. According to WATE.com Knoxville, however, this year county commissioners have taken another look at whether digital billboards should be permitted in Knox County.
Our Knoxville, TN accident lawyers believe that digital billboards can increase the risk of auto accidents by encouraging drivers to take their eyes off of the road and by serving as a distraction to drivers who should be focused on safety. This type of risk is unnecessary and we support efforts of lawmakers to limit a driver’s exposure to external distractions.
Should Lawmakers Put an End to Digital Billboards?
WATE Knoxville published an article on January 27 indicating that commissioners for Knox County planned to consider a permanent ban on all new digital billboards at their Monday afternoon meeting.
Some local residents from Knox County had expressed their concern that these billboards were both polluting the local skyline and, most distressingly, were perhaps presenting a serious distraction to drivers traveling along the roads where the billboards are located.
The first digital billboard in the county was installed along Chapman Highway in 2008. However, the advertising on the digital billboards has become increasingly more vibrant in recent years, which has made the billboards more of a potential distraction than they were in the past.
The billboards are especially a concern at night time, when they are very bright and may draw the attention of drivers who need to focus on the road. Visibility is, of course, always worse for drivers at night time and the evening is the worst time for a driver to be distracted from the road by a colorful moving advertisement on a billboard.
The billboards also change frequently to different ones, and this change can catch the eye of drivers and prompt them to take their eyes off of the road.
Will New Billboard Proposal Increase Safety?
The proposal to ban new digital billboards was made by Commissioner Richard Briggs. He had initially planned to propose putting an end to all new billboards but he instead limited his proposal to apply only to digital billboards as a compromise with other commissioners and with the business community.
Not everyone is in support of banning the digital billboards of course. One advertising executive told WATE Knoxville that digital billboards actually make it possible to reduce the total number of advertising billboards on highways since different companies can share one space and their ads can rotate.
However, the concerns of the advertisers should not trump concerns about safety. While a stationary billboard is something that drivers have become very used to and likely can tune out easily, a digital billboard with bright lights and a changing picture presents an unreasonable and unnecessary risk on the roads of Knoxville, Tennessee.
If you have been injured, contact G. Turner Howard III, Attorney at Law at (844) G3-Help-Me or 865-558-8030.
