USSC Rebuts Wachtel Report on EMCs

The United States Sign Council (USSC) is offering members a free copy of Inside the Wachtel 2009 Digital Display Report: A Commonsense Guide, by Richard Crawford, Esq., USSC’s legislative consultant.
Anyone who sells EMCs or other electronically changeable signs, and seeks zoning approvals for these signs, can obtain critical information from Crawford’s report to address opposition to EMCs and similar, LED-based displays. Planners and those opposed to EMCs are increasingly citing the Wachtel Report, which discredits current professional and university-based research that’s shown no correlation between EMC usage and traffic-accident rates.
The Wachtel Report, entitled Safety Impacts of the Emerging Digital Display Technology for Outdoor Advertising Signs, asserts that EMC signs are distractive, and, as a result, pose traffic-hazard issues. Crawford’s report asserts that the report by the human-factors researcher “presents us with a theory, advanced by a presumed unbiased researcher, that is not supported by any direct evidence, not based or supported by any new research by the author, and is contradicted by research conducted by reputable universities and professionals in this field.”
Crawford maintains the Wachtel Report contains very little, if any, proof of its claims. However, it has been used to buttress an anti-sign position that hinders securing permits for signs using EMC technology. Crawford has supplied opposing arguments when confronted with statements from the Wachtel Report. The rebuttal covers such topics as the “Zeigarnik Effect,” eye-movement studies, dwell time, message sequencing, on-premise signage and local–code issues.
One of USSC’s primary missions is to seek out and understand all matters related to drivers, signs and traffic safety, and to further the public’s interests in this regard. USSC’s sister organization, the United States Sign Council Foundation (USSCF), funds research into signs, sign-design performance characteristics and the economic impact of on premises signs.
To obtain a copy of Crawford’s Inside the Wachtel 2009 Digital Display Report: A Commonsense Guide, visit www.ussc.org, which provides a link to the USSC report (which is also on the Zoning Information page of USSC’s website).