we have all heard the stories about how talking on the phone while driving increases the chance of accidents. Very simply 100% of your attention needs to be on driving. So what gives with the huge TVs along the road running full length TV ads. It is like going from bad to worse.
There is a running one line joke being spoken by a stereotypical dumb blond hottie that simply says ‘I don’t know why but it seems every time I go out I see at least 1 traffic accident.’ Although that does get the audience laughing, taking your eyes off the road is no joke.
Talking on the phone while driving simply divides the mind. 50% of the mind is trying not to crash into whatever is in front of the car, and 50% is trying not to sound like and idiot on the phone. It took a while for the people conducting studies to discover what hypnotists knew right along, but dividing the mind weakens the ability to process cognitive thought. Anyone that has had a garden hose with a ‘Y’ to run two lines knows that what comes out the end is just a whole lot less than it could be.
So with phone bans popping up as hands free does absolutely nothing to keep the mind from being divided, here come the advertizes who are planting big screen TVs along the road. Static road signs are easy to process. You look at them and they only have a few words and in most cases 2 to 3 seconds your eyes are back on the road. The next up from there are signs that alternate between 2 messages. They can mostly be found and operated by the local government to announce traffic conditions. That may take your eyes off the road for about 5 seconds. But considering if you are driving along at 100kph you will cover 138 meters (452 feet) in 5 seconds, the risk goes up.
So now imagine what will happen if your eyes are off the road for 10 seconds or more watching some advertisement on a big TV, and suddenly talking on a phone while driving does not look half as bad. So the question is when is enough advertizing simply enough.
What will likely happen is the phone ban will stay in place until car technology will override the drivers control of the car for breaking when a collision is detected, and road side advertisements will be limited to 10 words. That should be a reasonable trade off and keep everyone safer and moderately happy.
