Why Are LED Signs Banned In Some Cities?

Great question.

Opponents of LED signs are usually the same people who oppose just about everything else you can think of. Whatever their arguments are (and they have a thousand and one reasons why LED displays are a plague upon humanity), the core, underlying principle is annoyance.

We’ve all had that neighbor before. You know, the one who chases kids away from the end of his driveway for laughing too loud?

LED signs are annoying to some people because they’re new. That’s it. They aren’t the way things should be done, so they’ve got to go.

Let’s play devil’s advocate and pick out a few seemingly plausible arguments against LED signs:

• They’re dangerous because they distract drivers;
• They make a city look gaudy;
• They waste electricity, and they’re bad for the environment.

For starters, here’s a pile of stats regarding accidents caused by distracted drivers, put together courtesy of the government. You see a lot of cell phones and text messages mentioned there, but nothing about signs—not even LED signs.

In particular, realize that the average text message takes about 5 seconds to send. 5 seconds you’re eyes aren’t focused on the road. When is the last time you’ve taken 5 seconds to stick your head out the window to read a billboard or LED sign?

Never?

Right. That’s because we’re able to acknowledge and file away an LED sign’s message much, much faster than it takes to punch out a message on your phone.

Notice that the same people usually don’t cite billboards as a significant factor in car accidents—probably because billboards have been around much longer.

And what about LEDs cropping up all over your city like weeds, transforming it into Little Vegas?

That’s not going to happen.

People don’t realize that “LED signs” can range in size and sophistication from a Vegas casino’s colossal marquee to a tiny window display in your hometown’s pizzeria.

Rest assured that every mom-and-pop business on main street isn’t rushing to install a multi-million dollar display.

And what about the environment?

Yes, low-quality junk made in factories overseas might eat up power like there’s no tomorrow, but that’s not the norm.

MEGA’s LED signs, for example, consume 20% less power than a majority of our competitors.

But that’s not nearly as exciting as news headlines like “LED Displays Destroying The Environment.”

Like it or not, LED signs are part of the future of advertising. They’re not going anywhere. And for every municipality who enacts a temporary ban on LEDs, 2 more are lifting their old prohibitions.

And that’s because the image of LED displays as fatality-causing, glitz-and-glam, Earth-destroying monsters is a complete exaggeration.

If you’re interested in an LED for your business, of course double check your local regulations beforehand. Some people have nothing better to do than complain.

But reality always wins, eventually.