| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Campaign to remove Rosslyn Park advertising screens | |
| Posted by: | Alex Greenbank | |
| Date/Time: | 03/12/15 11:18:00 |
| Yes, it's going to be mildly distracting, as people say, that's the point of advertising. But they're not just there for drivers. They're there for passengers in cars, for people on the bus, for people walking past them, for drivers stopped in traffic. Distraction isn't binary. The other point is that drivers have a responsibility to drive properly and resist the temptation to be distracted or to limit the distraction, and there are plenty of other things that are distracting to various degrees:- * Listening to the radio in a car is distracting. * Smoking/eating/drinking whilst driving is distracting * Having a hands-free mobile phone conversation is distracting. * Having a conversation with someone else in the car is distracting (especially if it's a small child in the rear seats). No we're not nearly there yet! What matters is how distracting it is. Context is important too:- * It's a lot safer to stare at the adverts for 20 seconds without looking at the road when you're stuck in non-moving traffic (with the handbrake on for the sake of the argument) for that time. * It's not ok to stare at the adverts for 20 seconds when you're approaching/passing them at 30mph There also a limit to how distracting something can be for it to be acceptable, and the DfT/Government seem to have electronic advertising boards (as long as they fall within certain guidelines) the same side of the line as being able to make hands-free phone calls whilst driving, or talking to someone else in a car. On the other side of the line are things like: * Driving whilst intoxicated or under the influence of drugs * Using a hand held phone to make calls * Using a hand held phone to read/write text messages or emails * Watching TV/video whilst driving In general, i'm not a big fan of advertising like this but there's nothing uniquely bad about the Rosslyn Park boards that would make me object to them specifically. I think the standard of roadcraft (amongst all road users) is falling through the floor and that's something that needs much more urgent focus before we see a sharp rise in injuries/fatalities all over the borough/city/country, but I don't want to derail this thread with that discussion. |