The effects of roadside advertisements on road safety have been studied using various methods. The topic was studied in Finland especially in the 1970s and 1980s. The results of those studies can be summarised thusly: * in general, the number of accidents occurring near roadside advertisements has not been observed to be higher than at reference sites; * the negative effects of advertisements are, however, visible in accident statistics if they are focused on limited conditions (junctions); * the effects of advertisements are apparent in driver behaviour, but the effects measured in normal traffic are small; * advertisements along main roads distract the detection of traffic signs and possibly also other objects relevant to the driver’s task. During the past twenty years basic research on driver behaviour has advanced noticeably. Nevertheless, no known study gives reason to modify the above-mentioned conclusions. Based on research findings concerning the road safety of advertisements, there is no reason to significantly modify currently effective instructions regulating advertisement. Categorisation of advertisements based on the relevance of information they provide to drivers may facilitate compilation of instructions. Advertisements are becoming increasingly conspicuous. The use of moving images and other special effects should be viewed critically from the viewpoint of road safety. The most promising available method of studying the effects of advertisements on road safety is registering of the effects on behaviour by focusing measurements on normal traffic without interfering with the traffic in any way. If the research setup is well planned, a considerable amount of data can be collected and generalisation of the results is not difficult. The challenge is to find suitable measurements of behaviour. In six of the 405 fatal accidents investigated by accident investigation committees in 2000 and 2001 for which data was available, it was concluded that advertisements were a partial cause of the accident. In those accidents 9 people were killed and 2 were injured. In four cases it was concluded that the advertisements obstructed visibility and in one case it was concluded that the driver’s attention being drawn to the advertisement was a partial cause of the accident. In one case it was concluded that the advertisement obstructed visibility and drew the driver’s attention away from other road users. All of the accidents occurred at junctions. In all cases the main originator of the accident was an over-55-year-old passenger car driver who entered the junction from a side road from behind a yield or stop sign and drove in front of a car travelling along a main road with the right of way. In some of the accidents the advertisements that contributed to the accident were situated in the field of vision contrary to instructions. In some cases the advertisements were situated correctly, but regardless of that they were still considered to be a partial cause of the accident. (Author/publisher) This report may be found at http://www.tiehallinto.fi
Abstract