Attention all drivers! Distraction ahead.
Hey St. Johns County drivers, are you familiar with digital billboards or DBBs? Well, you will be if the county allows for a change in the sign ordinance.
These are not the signs that FDOT installed for public safety. These are signs used primarily for advertising that are positioned off of the road in place of traditional billboards. DBBs are nothing new. They have been around for years. If you need to see one in person, all you have to do is drive north or south of the county lines. Some counties, states and countries are actually in the process of removing them because of public safety concerns.
One thing is for sure. We currently find ourselves in a world full of driving distractions, most of which we cannot control (cell phone usage, advanced auto technologies, eating, drinking and smoking, etc.). However, we are in control of adding to it with digital billboards. If public safety is truly our highest priority in St Johns County, let us continue the tradition by denying the implementation of the DBB program.
Let your opinions be known. Call, write or email your Planning and Zoning Agency and county commissioners but most importantly show up in person at the scheduled hearings (PZA-Feb. 16). Common sense tells me that we don’t need a giant screen flashing to get our attention. Just thinking about DBBs has mine!
Victoria Corlazzoli
Ponte Vedra Beach
