The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is being sued for exempting digital billboards from a federal ban on advertising near highways.

Scenic America, a nonprofit public interest group, sued DOT and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) claiming the exemption violates U.S. laws, including the 1965 Highway Beautification Act. The digital billboard exemption, approved by the FHWA in September 2007, gave the federal government the right to overrule state agreements limiting the use of flashing or moving advertisements near federal highways

“Shielded by the 2007 de facto rule change, advertising companies have constructed and operated new digital billboards featuring commercial advertising displayed intermittently thousands of times a day that shine day and night into citizens’ backyards and bedrooms, put the public at risk of car crashes caused by driver distraction and mar the beauty of America’s countryside and communities,” the lawsuit states.

Since 2007, companies have put up 3,600 digital billboards along U.S. roadways.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

To Learn More:

Dept. Of Transportation Sued Over Digital Billboards (by Steve McClellan, Media Daily News)

Scenic America v. U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. District Court, District of Columbia) (pdf)

Billboard Industry Fights Study Saying Electronic Signs are Distracting to Drivers (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)