Drivers Distracted By Roadside Jumble

Almost a quarter of drivers have found themselves so distracted by signs, advertising or bright lights beside the road that they have veered out of their lane.

Roadside objects such as flashing signs, billboards and Christmas decorations cause a third of motorists to lose their concentration behind the wheel, says motor insurance research.

Two fifths of drivers told motor insurance researchers that they lost their concentration for up to five seconds – long enough to travel two and a half times the stopping distance needed, if they were travelling at just 30mph.

At 60mph they would have travelled at least the length of a football pitch before they regained their full concentration, motor insurance companies estimate.

"While we currently know a lot more about in-vehicle distractions such as mobile phones than external ones, there is a growing body of concern about the lack of any coherent strategy for arranging roadside furniture," commented a transport expert.

"Drivers' visual workload varies through the course of a journey, and at crucial times - negotiating a difficult roundabout, for example, there is a small but significant risk of distraction from novel stimuli like advertising.”

"In fact, this risk is probably underestimated and we need to do more research on the possibility of excluding non-essential information when the driver is already busy dealing with the road," he concluded.

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