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Wednesday, March 1, 2006

Trucks ‘n’ Ads

Posted by on March 1 at 20:22 PM

The commute to Tacoma every morning and night is taking its toll, but tonight I saw something that made me nearly run off the road. Actually, I did veer to the right shoulder from the right lane so I could get a better glimpse of the right side of the U-Haul-shaped truck that had scrolling, back-lit ads on three sides, like those moving movie billboards at mall entrances. I remember once, a few years ago, pulling into a parking space and noticing an ad on the concrete bumper. Where can ads not go? Are these distracting, lit-up, truck-sized moving billboards going to take over our roadways? What’s up with this? Or do I just need to take my commute pills? I wish I’d had a camera phone, so I could demonstrate the weird movie-on-wheels effect.


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This has been making me crazy for months. Because we are trapped on the road by all the traffic, they get on the road for no purpose other than advertising.

Every time some private person wants to put art on their property near a road there is a big to do about distracting the motorists, but commercial speech is treated as the only legitimate use of the first amendment.

What really pisses me off is the Deva Vu Hummers driving around advertising. The first time I saw one I though, okay, they must be taking some dancers home. So I pulled up beside to wave and it was just bouncers, driving around.

That said, I do have lettering on my landscape truck. But I don't just take up space so people have to read it. I'm going to or from a job or something.

I hear the advertising on the train to Tacoma and back has much less obnoxious advertising, and you can sleep/read/zone out

The train to Tacoma is fantastic. They even have a sleeping car. Can be a pain to catch from the hill, though and the runs aren't that flexible.

Also, if you work odd hours, the bus system is pretty freakin' good. Regular service, clean, comfy busses with reclining seats, mostly riding with other professionals. I did the commute in my car for two years before it came down to quitting my job or finding an alternative.

I would guess that a moving ad on the freeway would be illegal if the Highway Patrol knew about it. The only reason that gigantic moving ad in Morton along I-5 north of Tacoma is allowed is because it's on a spur of Indian land.
Of course, the Highway Patrol doesn't have any jurisdiction off the freeway, so getting U-Haul to stop might be difficult; they won't be able to do anything when the truck is parked in the lot. Time for the city to step up. Too bad they're busy deciding whether they've got leadership problems or not. Time for another seminar!

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