The proliferation of billboards in Los Angeles has been a problem for decades – and if advertising companies get their way, it could soon get much worse.
Under one plan being considered, digital advertising screens could be added to more than 2,000 bus shelters throughout Los Angeles – threatening the beauty of our streetscapes, distracting drivers and creating inescapable eyesores in every neighborhood.
The digital screens being proposed will likely distract drivers, leading to increased traffic accidents that would put lives at risk and exacerbate traffic problems. To make matters worse, some of these billboards would use invasive tracking software, introducing troubling privacy concerns for thousands of passing motorists as well as nearby pedestrians.
Another plan under consideration would lift the city's current ban on digital billboards outright, opening the floodgates to an unprecedented desecration of the city's streetscapes.
According to two public opinion polls taken in late 2019, a large majority of L.A. residents do not want digital ads in their neighborhoods. That's no surprise given the myriad threats these billboards pose to our communities.
In addition to the pitfalls outlined above, digital billboard screens would also expose children to ads for many undesirable products such as unhealthy foods and violent movies, adding to concerns local residents have expressed about omnipresent advertising in their communities.
