Digital Billboards Get a Green LED Light

Oregon’s motto is “she flies with her own wings.” And now she’ll fly with digitally enhanced ones.

The state's legislature has just agreed to allow digital billboards along all state roadways, according to the Oregonian. The newspaper points out that while some Oregon cities already allows such billboards, this law will allow for such advertising along all of the state highways.

Digital billboards are a hot topic of debate around the US.

They're often opposed on grounds that they're a nuisance and a potential hazard to drivers (despite outdoor advertising industry research to the contrary), an argument in the recent debate in Dallas, which just approved them, too.

The Port Authority bus terminal in New York City, meanwhile, will be bringing a massive 6,000 square foot LED wraparound to the digital signage hub that is Times Square.

The Oregon state bill calls for the signs to have images that change no faster than every eight seconds and doesn’t “create the appearance of movement,” the Oregonian reports. Also, in the mindset of making the world a better place in the process, Oregon lawmakers are requiring advertisers to use renewable energy sources to power the billboards or purchase carbon credits to match up with the amount  of power being used.

The bill still needs to incorporate changes from the state Senate and get the governor’s signature before becoming law.

"This is one of those bills that’s quintessentially Oregon," the bill's sponsor, Rep. Tobias Read, Democrat of Beaverton, said, according to the paper. "I’m sure there are people in Oregon that would like to see no billboards at all and I have no doubt that there are those who would like to see fewer restrictions on billboards."

The paper notes that the Federal Highway Administration (FHA) “allowed digital signs for the first time in 2007 after concluding they did not pose a significant danger to drivers.” However, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials said in 2009 that the billboards can take driver’s eyes away from the road for an unsafe amount of time.

Not everyone's convinced; as Screen Media notes, "The mayor of Orlando, Florida postponed a vote on permitting digital billboards, and voters in Rapid City, South Dakota rejected them."

[image above via Sony's The Smurfs]