The Northeast is in the midst of its annual fall transformation, with vivid red, orange and yellow leaves lining highways across the region.
Yet some motorists say the seasonal scenery is increasingly being interrupted by an unwelcome presence: roadside billboards.
“I’m so tired of the constant barrage of advertising everywhere we look,” one Facebook user wrote.
Another added, “I know ‘hate’ is a strong word, but I actually hate advertisement billboards.”
“I hate billboards,” a third person posted. “I am driving across the plateau, one of the prettier places in America, and all I can see is a sixty-foot potty joke every five miles. F**k you.”
Mark Falzone, president of Scenic America, shares that frustration. Through the organization, he has made it his mission to help protect and beautify the nation’s landscapes.
“We can choose not to have billboard blight in our lives,” he told the Daily Mail.
Falzone said the issue affects Americans across a “mobile society,” meaning advertising displays along highways can influence people’s experience just as much as billboards in residential neighborhoods.
Fall foliage has arrived across the Northeast, with brilliant autumn leaves lining highways throughout the region
For some drivers, however, seasonal scenery is being overshadowed by roadside advertising. Pictured: Century Boulevard in Los Angeles
He pointed to research suggesting that people feel better in attractive surroundings, even when they may not understand why a drive through Vermont feels more pleasant than one through New Hampshire or Florida.
“It’s a distraction,” Falzone told the Daily Mail, arguing that once drivers begin noticing the signs, they may find it difficult to ignore them.
Florida has the largest number of billboards permitted by state transportation officials, with more than 32,000, according to Scenic America. Texas follows with roughly 24,000, while Michigan has about 23,000, Ohio approximately 19,000 and Pennsylvania around 18,000.
The outlet reported that Washington, DC, has the fewest, with 86, excluding Alaska, Hawaii, Maine and Vermont, where billboards have been prohibited.
Vermont became the first state to ban the commercial displays in 1968, followed by Maine a decade later, The Boston Globe reported.
In Hawaii and Alaska, billboard restrictions were introduced before they achieved statehood, so drivers there have never had to contend with the signs.
Scenic America is also challenging a policy that allows billboard operators to remove taxpayer-funded trees near their signs when approved by transportation departments.
Falzone stressed that those trees serve purposes extending well beyond their visual appeal.
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Are roadside billboards damaging America’s natural landscapes, or are they an important part of the country’s culture?
“It’s a distraction,” Mark Falzone told the Daily Mail. “We can choose not to have billboard blight in our lives.”
Trees can provide sound barriers, help manage stormwater runoff and reduce pollution, among other environmental benefits.
“It makes no sense,” Falzone said of removing them simply to make billboards easier to see.
He clarified that Scenic America does not object to billboard companies clearing trees on their own land, but opposes the removal of trees belonging to the state.
Falzone also argued that billboards are no longer necessary, given how much advertising now reaches consumers through smartphones. In his view, protecting the country’s natural beauty should take priority.
Mississippi ranked highest for distractions outside vehicles, a category that includes billboards, in a study by Martin Law Firm shared with the Daily Mail.
The study also found that Mississippi had the highest number of deaths per 100 million miles driven.
Delaware and West Virginia ranked just behind it.
Falzone said billboards do not need to disappear everywhere. Locations such as Route 1 in Saugus, Massachusetts, pictured, are closely associated with them
New York City’s Times Square is internationally famous for its bright billboards, with a single sign capable of generating millions of dollars in annual revenue
Delaware has the highest billboard density in the country, with 379 billboard faces for every 1,000 miles of highway, despite ranking 43rd overall for the number of signs.
“What this index really shows is that ‘distracted driving’ isn’t just a phone problem — it’s an attention problem, and most of it is completely outside your control,” Justin Martin, the law firm’s founding partner, said in a statement.
Still, Falzone does not believe every community should be billboard-free. Times Square in New York City and Route 1 in Saugus, Massachusetts, are famous for their signage, he said, and the displays are part of what attracts visitors.
The Daily Mail has contacted major billboard companies for comment.