Road traffic safety management of visual pollution by outdoor advertisements

Abstract

Visual pollution is a type of pollution that hinders the ability of the one to enjoy the view. The visual pollution can caused from many sources such as haze and lighting features. However, the most common and critical source of visual pollution is in the form of advertising especially in urban areas are signboards and billboards. Multiple studies have shown that excessive advertising in term of signboard and billboard can brought harmful effects to the public. The aim of this study is to analyze the impact of visual pollution caused by outdoor advertisements in Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. To fulfill this aim, three main objectives were developed. First, to study the policy and rules that governed the billboards and signboards installation, to determine the public perception on the visual pollution in term of billboards and signboards and finally is to propose the solutions to minimize the visual pollution and increase public awareness on the visual pollution. Two types of survey were conducted, which are interview and questionnaire distribution. Five respondents were randomly picked to determine their understanding on visual pollution by short interview session method. Based on the interview session, most of the interviewee was unfamiliar with visual pollution concept. This shows that the public level of awareness on visual pollution are still low compared to other types of pollution. A total of fifty visual type questionnaires that consists of three picture questions were dispersed. Based on the questionnaire result, most of the respondents from public believed that having large amount which is more than four number of billboards and signboards in a same area could cause the most visual pollution to the public. In addition, electronic billboard is also believed to cause higher visual pollution to the public compared to the conventional billboard. Nevertheless, billboard cause the most eye discomfort and distraction especially during night time from the public perception. The policy and rules that governed the billboards and signboards installation are studied in this research. The guideline for the installation of signboard and billboard was found to be not detailed which causing improper management and ultimately lead to visual pollution.