The visual chaos of billboards

The Anti-Distracted Driving Act (RA No. 10913) will soon be implemented as a response to the increased use of mobile telecommunications and electronic entertainment devices that constitute a major cause of road accidents. Because of the ubiquitous use of these gadgets that have become accessible to the public, our lawmakers have been so focused on in-vehicle distraction that they have overlooked the fact that distraction can also arise from sources external to the vehicle. They have hardly noticed the increasing proliferation of billboards and other signages along the major thoroughfares of Metro Manila and other cities in the country that equally cause distractions to drivers.

The increase in the number and size of signages is a sign of a growing economy where more products need to be advertised and in which signages are justified by businessmen as providing important information to the public. However, the way these are designed and installed actually result in visual clutter; also, their content can sometimes be visually displeasing. The visual chaos along the road can exacerbate the distraction of drivers while they fumble simultaneously with their mobile phones.

The main rules and regulations pertaining to signages are contained in the National Building Code and the administrative orders of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) while more specific guidelines have also been drawn up by particular local government units. In Metro Manila, the Metro Manila Development Authority has its own guidelines for signages which have been prepared in collaboration with the DPWH. The intent of all the policies on signages is to promote public safety, order and welfare. Even as we regulate the use of electronic devices inside vehicles, we need to complement this with a strict enforcement of the rules on design, placement and content of signages and even with an updated specific law on signages.

Focusing on Edsa and its billboards, a student of mine in geography made a study in 2011 on the placement and effects of these signages along the highway. The common content observed on Edsa billboards then were those pertaining to apparel, food and drinks, beauty and health-related products, telecommunications and upcoming movies and TV shows. From my observation, these kinds of billboard are still characteristic of existing ones on Edsa. Sadly, the study revealed malpractices in the content and setting up of billboards as based on guidelines and standards designed to promote public safety and welfare and aesthetic urban design.

In terms of construction, for instance, the study found that billboards located inside one property or building did not follow a common baseline that will preserve the site’s aesthetic value. Also, free standing billboards did not follow required setbacks. These violations can still be observed on Edsa today. As to billboard content, there were many signages that did not conform with public decency and good taste. In fairness to our law enforcers, these provocative advertisements have already been disallowed although today there are still some that persist, like that ubiquitous one that enticingly gives tips to the driver on how to hook up with the opposite sex. The study also documented the driver-respondents’ observation that, indeed, the billboards were visually distracting and said that they needed to be alert, focused and careful when driving in order to avoid accidents.

Today, the visual clutter formed by Edsa billboards has even grown worse. And compounding the problem is the emergence of digital billboards where advertising scenes change frequently and contain motion in the visual scene that is even more distracting than a nonmoving picture. The disorderly proliferation of these “supergraphics” as well as “still” graphics needs to be addressed, too, by our lawmakers as a way of holistically addressing frequent road crashes and changing the visual impact of our cities as landscapes of congested, messy and aesthetically challenged thoroughfares and skylines.

Meliton B. Juanico, a retired professor of geography at UP Diliman, is a licensed environmental planner and is active in consultancy work in urban and regional planning.