The impact of roadside advertising on safe driving behaviour in cities: A driving simulator approach

Abstract

The roadside billboards, as a distractor, seem to have been investigated and efforts have been made in order to
determine the extent to which they affect the safe driving behaviour. Most studies suggest that the existence of
roadside advertising billboards, in general, alters drivers’ behaviour, but they are quite ambiguous in quantifying
this impact. This research aims to investigate and quantify this effect by means of driving simulator experiment
including 31 young participants. The experimental procedure included driving in urban environment in high and
low traffic conditions, with or without advertising billboards on the roadside, while unexpected events were
designed to take place. Regression statistical modelling techniques were developed in order to investigate the
impact of roadside advertising on several driving performance measures. The models' application indicated that
roadside advertising leads to slight decrease of the mean speed, but at the same time slight increase of the reaction
time and lateral position of the vehicle from the right borderline.