Digital Distractions in School Zones

[patric]

Tulsa Public Schools is putting a new spin on their fiscal responsibility by showing off their latest investments: digital billboards. 

The animated marquees, sometimes referred to as "TV on a stick", feature the same eye-grabbing full-motion graphics you would find at any casino, but you can also check out the time and temp as you whiz through the school zone.

Aside from the new distraction for drivers, the 22 x 12 foot monument signs identify the school with bright animated logos, and was paid for with a federal grant intended to assist education at magnet schools.

And what is bound to be a comfort to the recently laid-off employees, the new LED displays can produce much more light per watt of electricity than older signs, which TPS promotes as energy saving (even if the older, dimmer fluorescent signs could have actually been using less energy).

It's like being proud of drowning your kids in the bathtub because you put them face-down to use less water.

[BKDotCom]

Make sure you're not on your cellphone when gawking at the new signs.

[we vs us]

Huh.  Who'd'a thunk.  I never really see these things since I'm constantly textin'-n-drivin'.

[Townsend]

Pffft, way too drunk during school hours to focus much further than the car ahead of me...

[patric]

Make sure you're not on your cellphone when gawking at the new signs.

I can almost see a half-hearted defense for TPS-issued "distracted driving" tickets, but further down the road, the legal settlement for little Johnny's foot amputation will likely come from the taxpayer's Sinking Fund.