Digital Signage Safety- Statistical Analysis of the Relationship between On-Premise Digital Signage and Traffic Safety

- Mike Prongue

I live, work and play on Florida’s Gulf Coast in the Gulf Breeze and Destin area. Not only are we blessed with great weather, and a great quality of life but we continue to experience these despite an abundance of LED signs. 

The world has not ended, dogs are not sleeping with cats, and we have not turned into “Tokyo at Night” or “Sin City”.  Life is better with attractive digital signs and colorful content rather than unreadable and dated old-school static displays and reader boards with missing letters.

Dentist offices have them. Insurance companies have them. Destin, FL a regional tourist destination has an abundance of LED signs on hotels, restaurants and water parks. Schools and churches have them as the rule and not the exception.

We have areas here where they are closely regulated- historical districts and scenic areas. But the acceptance of the LED sign in NW Florida is amazingly leading edge. Compare this LED-liberal mindset to Miami, FL (for example) and we seem to be light-years ahead.

Once concern that impacts the community’s acceptance of on-premise LED signs is- does LED signs impact traffic safety? Many a permit has been denied or a restrictive sign ordinance written by well-intentioned elected official because of this unfounded fear.

A post to the International Sign Association’s Facebook page, dated, January 9th, 2013, reads:

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The first-ever research on how on-premise electronic signs (EMCs) impact traffic safety has been officially released! It confirms what we all already knew – that EMCs DON'T cause traffic accidents.

Great thanks to Texas A&M University and the Signage Foundation, Inc. for conducting this groundbreaking and valuable research. We’re already using it to educate local officials all over the country in order to help draft reasonable and beneficial sign codes.

See the research here:

http://www.thesignagefoundation.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=oTRY407QzDU%3D&tabid=59 mid=501

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Two previous LED sign industry safety research studies were completed in the last 12 years- one in 2001 and the second in 2009 with the results and conclusions somewhat disputed due to statistical methods and assumptions made within each study. This Texas A&M study report describes the flaws and limitations of the earlier studies if you are interested.

This new report is dated December  17, 2012 so it is contemporary, but it’s  also statistically vetted and draws positive conclusions.

The 41-page report boils down to the one line we all care about on page 35:

“Based on the analysis performed for this research effort, the authors are able to conclude that there is no statistically significant evidence that the installation of on-premise signs at the locations evaluated in this research led to an increase in crashes.”

I invite you to read the study, promote the study, and include this study in your arsenal to diffuse the fear and old-school mindsets that still limit the growth of our industry in some communities.

Happy Valentine’s Day- stay out of the candy!

These comments are humbly submitted by me, Mike Prongue, and do not reflect the views, opinions, hopes or dreams of anyone else, anywhere else and this includes Vantage LED. I appreciate your constructive opinion which may be sent to me at michael@vantageled.com.