INC NEWS - driving distractions

[RW Pickle]

It's hard to understand why there is such a need for information on
accidents etc. relating to billboards when there seems to be no interest
in getting panhandlers out of the middle of the road. I doubt anyone will
ever get far enough off the road to hit one of these billboards, yet
panhandlers in our City line the shoulders and medians of our local roads
daily; some even with their dogs. In places where the speeds equal that of
the interstate! I'd rather see billboards than panhandlers.

The rules for the billboard industry in our community are already written
in stone. Unless the stone is resurfaced, it can't and won't happen. Does
that mean they can take us to court and win? Sure. The Courts decided
stuff like this every day. The billboard industry has a right to make a
living as well. And denying them an opportunity to increase their revenues
certainly hurts their bottom line.

Over the recent holiday, I had the opportunity to see these new billboards
in action. Even the one Ellen mentions (and it didn't phase me like it did
her). I must say, they beat the heck out of the old billboards for getting
your attention (except the Chick-Fil-A billboards with the cows painting
signs that tell you to eat more chicken; I just love those). The lighting
of these new signs is far superior to the older versions. Distracting? No
more so than the radio playing, the cell phones ringing while trying to
eat my McDonald's hamburger with the dog barking, the kids screaming, the
kid's entertaining video playing behind my head and just traffic in
general... If a billboard is so good it causes an accident, I have some
advertising dollars I'd like to spend. That would be revolutionary for an
industry that typically has just been a visual distraction while traveling
down the road. It would be hard to imagine that there is any data of them
causing accidents at all. If so, it is probably less than those caused by
UFO's each year...

RWP
27 Beverly