Highway Accidents in Relation to Roadside Business and Advertising

A study was conducted to attempt to classify accidents by location and by cause in order to determine whether a relationship exists between the number, location and character of accidents and the immediate presence of roadside business and advertising. Information is presented based on accidents occurring over a period of two years. The number of accidents based on vehicle density or accidents per mile for the entire study is greater in the area containing at least 90% of the advertising and roadside business on the approach being studied than in the subsequent distances for one year. Where business and advertising have occupied a large portion of the private property adjoining the roadside, accidents classified as being due to inattention predominate over all classifications. Segments of highways with equal or nearly equal traffic densities exhibiting littlt or no roadside business show lower rates by comparison. Accidents in these areas seem to occur more sporadically and exhibit less tendency to recur with the same frequency in the same locations the following year. In the distance of one mile beyond the roadside business areas, more accidents are attribtued to miscellaneous causes than to inattention and business combined. Keywords: Driver distraction;