This project was a secondary analysis of drivers on route 93, North of Boston. They drove past a double-sided digital billboard that was more-or-less isolated from other advertisements. We were curious if drivers looked more, or for longer when it was in view.
This project was presented at the Transportation Research Board 2014 meeting in Washington D.C.
When considering glance behavior, it appears drivers make longer and more frequent glances off-road in the presence of digital billboards. That is, when the billboard was on the right, they looked right; when it was on the left, they looked left.
This effect also seems to vary by age, such that older people glance off-road less in general.
