Are those flashy new electronic signs also a hazard?

It's not just you. That billboard is changing channels.

Technology in recent years has altered the landscape of roadside signs, allowing billboards to become a beacon for many different ads. And as a growing number of billboards go digital, federal highway regulators are studying whether a safety hazard is created when eyes are diverted from the road to these giant TV screens towering over the highway.

With 1,100 of the modern billboards popping up across the nation, officials are focusing on safety. Results of a study that Federal Highway Administration officials started last year to try to determine whether the latest technology affects road safety are expected in late 2009.

"The simple answer is nobody knows. Maybe we're multiprocessing information in a way we never have before," said Doug Hecox, Federal Highway Administration spokesman. "The sky's the limit for what advertisers will do to get you to look at their product."

But the federal agency has already identified a safety threshold, finding in a 2006 study that drivers distracted for more than 2 seconds contributed to 22 percent of U.S. crashes.

Whether this new study will yield results forcing the first major changes in billboard regulations since first lady Lady Bird Johnson worked to beautify the highways in 1965 is just as clear as, well, static.

Federal highway rules leave it to the states to decide whether electronic signs should be allowed. In 1996, federal regulators began allowing what are called "tri-view" signs - mechanical signs that flip to reveal a new image.

Billboard companies have quickly jumped to convert existing billboards to digital, or to build new ones since it's a long-term moneymaker for them. The ability to run multiple ads where only one could go before translates into more revenue. Big cities, like Chicago, are magnets for these glowing LED billboards.

"What really makes the billboard unique is you're taking hot beachfront property, hot locations and you're able to make it available to six people," said Tommy Teepell, chief marketing officer at Lamar Advertising Co. "For the first time in the history of advertising, we've kind of given the advertiser full ability to change their message day and night."

The ability to easily change the message means a billboard can include an Amber Alert asking drivers to look for a missing child. In southern states, digital billboards can be used to help direct traffic during hurricane evacuations.

Illinois in October 2006 began allowing digital signs alongside highways. Today, there are about 100 of them around the state. To regulate them, the Illinois Department of Transportation requires a permit just as it does for traditional signs.

Images must be static and stay posted for at least 10 seconds in Illinois, but other states allow billboard images to rotate every six seconds.

"We don't want huge Jumbotrons out on the roadways, because we are very concerned that those would cause distractions for drivers," state transportation spokesman Mike Claffey said.

Regulations are less stringent for on-premise signs, or signs on the property of a business that include no outside advertising. Drivers are more likely to see moving images on them. Those signs still require a permit from the state if they sit on interstates, Claffey said.

Other than rubbernecking, state officials say there seems to be no evidence of a larger danger in Illinois. There are no reports of crashes in the state attributed to these modern billboards, state police spokesman Lt. Luis Gutierrez said.

So perhaps our attention spans are digital-ready and the notion these modern billboards are jeopardizing our safety should fall by the wayside.

Not so fast, says one Washington, D.C., group.

Scenic America views digital billboards as visual clutter and condemns them as a safety risk.

"Do you want to surrender the visual environment of your community to a giant television screen on a stick? They may find them cool. That has nothing to do with whether they are safe," said Kevin Fry, president of Scenic America.

"The fact is these signs, by their very nature, are distracting for more than 2 seconds."

Fry also questions the extra electricity spent on the glowing signs when people are trying to conserve energy.

Scott Elliot, president of the Chicago division for Clear Channel Outdoor, says the LED signs rarely run at full power and reduce to an even lower wattage at night.

"I don't have to send out as many service workers and cranes to go out and service the billboards, so I'm not burning as much gas," Elliot said. "Hopefully, there's a little balance there."

Billboard companies say there are no plans to replace every sign with a digital one. A nearly $500,000 price tag for digital signs makes that possibility cost-prohibitive, they say.

The hardware is three times as expensive as traditional billboards, said Jeff Golimowski, spokesman for the Outdoor Advertising Association of America Inc.

And the association, which represents billboard companies, cites a 2004 study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute that shows driver behavior isn't altered measurably by the presence of digital signs.

"All of the empirical evidence is showing that these things are safety-neutral," Golimowski said. "They're far less distracting than a child sitting next to you, or talking on your cell phone."