Texas A&M University's Transportation Engineering School recently conducted exhaustive research on the traffic safety impact of on-premise electronic message centers (EMCs). This research is the first of its kind, and will provide local decision-makers with the fact-based evidence necessary to enact reasonable and beneficial sign codes.
Prominent planners Alan Weinstein and David Hartt have written a new framework for on-premise sign regulations, including the latest in legal and technical developments. Their framework also includes reasonable and effective proposed regulations for Electronic Message Centers (EMCs). You can use this model language to educate your local officials on how to reasonably regulate EMCs.
Sign companies, sign users and local officials may use ISA's EMC Nighttime Brightness Recommendations. The brightness guide is based on peer-reviewed research by Dr. Ian Lewin of Lighting Sciences, Inc. Dr. Lewin is a leading lighting expert with over 30 years experience in the lighting industry.
There is a lot of confusion out there among local officials regarding on and off-premise digital signs. This is unfortunate because each type of digital sign has very distinct capabilities and purposes, each targets a specific audience and each has traditionally been treated under separate legal and regulatory regimes. This chart provides a side-by-side comparison and contrast between EMCs and digital billboards, which sign companies can use to educate local officials.
ISA has been assisting sign companies, local officials, communities, and small businesses to develop reasonable regulatory language on EMC-related code issues throughout the country. Here are brief summaries of recent real-life instances where communities were considering a complete ban or severe restriction of EMCs, but ended up with more reasonable regulations after working with ISA and our allies.
Signline is a newsletter of ISA for planners, building and zoning officials, and other government groups connected with the sign industry. This issue of Signline focuses specifically on EMCs, which sign companies can use to educate local officals.
In recent years, several universities and consultants have conducted research studying what impact – if any – digital signs have on traffic safety. What they have all found is that there is no direct correlation between these types of signs and traffic accidents. These studies will help sign companies and local officials properly understand the impact of digital signs on traffic safety.