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<br />3.1 Expert Opinions <br /> <br />A combination of researchers and public policy experts were interviewed for this study. <br />. Individuals were identified while conducting background research into driver distraction and <br />were interviewed because of their credibility in the field. <br /> <br />Kathleen Harder, a researcher at the University of Minnesota, has conducted driver <br />distraction research for a variety of applications, including research for MnlDOT. She is <br />an expert in the field of human factors and psychology. She indicated that electronic <br />billboards pose a driver distraction threat because of their ability to display high <br />resolution color images, their ability to change images, and their placement in <br />relationship to the roadway, particularly in areas where the road curves, exits and <br />entrances are present, merges, lane drops, weaving areas, key locations of official signs, <br />and/or areas where roadways divide. <br /> <br />Greg Davis, a researcher with the FHW A Office of Safety Research and Development, <br />in Washington, DC was involved in the 2001 FHW A study on electronic b'illboards. He <br />was interviewed to gain a deeper understanding of this critical study and to learn of <br />recent research in this area. Davis stated that while no research has esta}Jlished a direct <br />cause and effect relationship between electronic outdoor advertising signs and crash rates, <br />the lack of such a research fmding does not preclude a causal relationship between <br />electronic billboards and crashes. He advocated for a new study that can control all <br />variables and determine if a cause and effect relationship exists. <br /> <br />Scott Robinson, an outdoor advertising regulator for MnlDOT, wrote the 2003 technical <br />memorandum that addresses allowable changes for outdoor advertising devices. Mr. <br />Robinson indicated that the memo was originally written in 1998 to establish a permitted <br />rate of change for tri-vision signs and that the application to electronic billboards was not <br />considered. The minimum' change rate of 4.9 seconds for 70 mph roadways and 6.2 <br />seconds for 55 mph roadways was based on the travel time between static signs spaced at <br />the minimum allowed distance apart. Mr. Robinson also indicated that the memo is not a <br />MnlDOT policy, statute or rule, but rather it was written to provide internal guidance. <br /> <br />Jerry Wachtel, an Engineering Psychologist and highway safety expert in private <br />practice, was the lead author for the FHWA's original (1980) study on electronic <br />billboards. He has continued his active involvement in this field, and advises Government <br />agencies as well as the outdoor advertising industry on sign ordinances, sign operations, <br />and the implications of the latest research on road safety. Mr. Wachtel believes that it is <br />neither feasible from the perspective of research design and methodology, nor necessary <br />from a regulatory perspective, to demonstrate a causal relationship between digital <br />billboards and road safety. Rather, he believes that we have a strong understanding, based <br />on many years of research, of driver information processing capabilities and limitations, <br />and of the contributions to, and consequences of, driver distraction, on crash risk; and <br />that this understanding is sufficient to support development of guidelines and ordinances <br />for the design, placement, and operation of digital billboards so as to lessen their <br />potentially adverse impact on road safety and traffic operations. <br /> <br />:A6 <br /> <br />62 <br />