SACRAMENTO — In a state that has restricted cellphone use by drivers and appears poised to bar motorists from text messaging, the Schwarzenegger administration is considering a plan that could create a new distraction: advertisements on freeway signs used for Amber Alerts and other emergencies.
The money-making scheme, already broached to federal officials who allocate highway funds, would allow businesses to post ads on California's 674 electronic roadside message boards.
State officials figure the cash-strapped highway fund could make millions by allowing ads when the signs are not in use for emergencies.
But some traffic safety advocates say the potential revenue is not worth the costs of tempting drivers to take their eyes off the road.
"The biggest issue with digital billboards is they are enormously distracting to motorists," said Kevin E. Fry, a traffic safety advocate and longtime billboard opponent.
Others express concern that ads would add visual blight and change the purpose of a system meant to save children and help drivers.
The idea for the signs came from Clear Channel Outdoor, a billboard company that potentially stands to gain from the proposal.
The firm is a major donor to state politicians.
The proposal has won at least tentative support from state Sen. George Runner (R-Lancaster), who wrote the bill that created the Amber Alert system in California and is the author of numerous public safety measures.
"I think it's a very fine idea," Runner said. "Whenever you start talking about advertising, you have to be very careful about how you go down that path. But it has the potential to provide tens of millions of dollars for highway repair."
Legislation proposing the ads has been drafted with Runner's involvement. And the Schwarzenegger administration has touted the idea in a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters; a federal waiver would be needed for new use of the freeway signs.
"The department's system of changeable message signs could be enhanced through private-sector participation," wrote Will Kempton, director of the California Department of Transportation. "In exchange for use of the space on the signs for commercial purposes, businesses could enhance the level of graphics, provide a steady income source, and use state-of-the-art technology to increase the quality of transportation and safety-related messages that are relayed on the signs."
