Has everybody seen the new digital billboards popping up all over LA? It's almost like a peek into Vegas for a moment with the bright lights and changing signs. My immediate instinctual reaction to these billboards was that they were not a big deal and were just a part of the evolution of advertising that is rapidly going on, especially in Los Angeles.
Then news stations began running stories about how these billboards could possibly be causing more accidents and are more trouble than they are worth. I guess I saw their point, but people need to be responsible drivers as well. Inattentiveness can't just be blamed on something else. And animated advertising has been near the roads and freeways in different areas (such as Staples Center) for quite some time, so what's the big deal? And to make matters even more confusing, I've noticed that traffic tends to slow down as you come up on the Amber Alert boards as well; should we get rid of them, too?
Ah, but this morning came along and my feelings changed. A new digital billboard was set up at the Culver exit on the Marina Fwy (Ca-90) this weekend and I got to see it in action this morning. Within 20 seconds, I saw three different advertisements flash on that billboard. And therein lies the issue I now take with these advertisement spewing screens. I have no problem if the image changes once every 30 seconds or every minute, but when something so bright continues to change formation and flashes different colors as you approach it is rather distracting. Definitely unnecessary for a city that is already overburdened with traffic and full of terrible drivers.
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