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For this reason; state departments of transportation have carefully studied the design and location <br />of dynamic signs within the. high«~ay right-of-~~~ay. Their goal is to convey a message to the <br />travelula publicin a mariner that is as straight-fon~~ard andreadable as possible ~~-ithout being a <br />visual "attraction", The goal of the outdoor advertising sign is to be a visual attraction outside. <br />the right-of--way; possibly making it a source of driver distraction. I~~evertl7eless, the actual <br />change in crash rates influenced by the presence of any specif c device has not been quantified u1 <br />a mariner thaf fully isolates the impacts of an electronic sign. Recent studies conducted by <br />FHWA and others have cited the need for further research. <br />In the interest of promoting public safety, this report recommends that electronic signs be vie~~~ed <br />as a form of driver distraction and. a public. safety issue. Therefore; the ordinance <br />recommendations identified here should be considered. These recommendations .should be <br />reviewed ui the future as additional research becomes available. <br />~TJith respect to regulatory measures for electronic outdoor advertising signs, it is unportant that <br />local govenunents take a thorough approach to updating their ordinances. to address this issue. <br />For example, an ordinance that addresses.. sign motion, but does not address brightness and <br />intensity levels may leave the door open for further controversy. This report seeks to identify all <br />of the aspects of electronic outdoor advertising devices that are subject to regulation. It does not <br />specifically state what those regulations should be (e.g. the size of electronic signs), since these <br />are all things that policy makers and staff must take into careful consideration: Further, as driver <br />distraction and resulting influences ~on safety do not, in a practical sense, distinguish between on- <br />premise and off-prenuse signage; this distinction is not highlighted in the recommendations <br />belos~~. <br />Regulatory Measures'recommended for consideration <br />To properly address the issue of dynamic signage, it is recommended that the sign code address <br />the following: <br />1. Identify specific areas «~here dynamic signs are prohibited. This `~~ould typically be done <br />by specifying ,certain zoning districts where they are not allowed under any <br />circumstances. If dynamic signs are to be allo~n~ed in specific areas; this could be done by <br />zoning district (only higher level ' commercial districts are reconunezided for. <br />consideration) or by zoning overlay related to specific purposes (e.g. entertainment or <br />sports facility district) or to specific roadway types.- <br />. <br />2. Determine the acceptable level of operational modes in conjunction «~ith such zoning <br />districts or overlays. The various levels] include: <br />a. Static display only, with no transitions bet«~een messages, <br />b. Static display with fade or dissolve transitions; or transitions that do not have the <br />effect of moving text or images; <br />c. .Static display with scrolling, traveling; spinning; zooming in, or similar special <br />effects that have the appearance of movement, animation; or changing in size, or get <br />revealed sequentially rather than all',at once (e.g. letters dropping into place; etc.), grid <br />t~29 <br />_2g~_ <br />