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COLUMBIA -- It’s a sign of the times -- digital billboards are popping up left and right across our nation’s highways and here in the Midlands.

“They give advertisers the ability to change and add content instantly,” said GM Scott Shockley of Lamar Outdoor Advertising.

The company has installed 14 digital billboards locally and more than 1,100 throughout the U.S.

As the high-tech billboards grow in popularity, concerns over the potential dangers they present to drivers accelerates.  Some critics say the signs can be more dangerous than phone in a moving vehicle.

Dr. Amit Almor has done extensive research on the effects of cell phone usage on the brain.  While he believes digital billboards are somewhat of a distraction, they don’t pose the same risks as texting while driving.

“The risk with digital billboards is they include a fair amount of motion,” says the USC associate professor Dr. Amit Almor.  “Our perceptual system automatically responds to motion and so, our attention is drawn automatically to things that move rapidly.”

But Shockley says safeguards have been put in place.

“We don’t allow animation, we don’t allow pixilation of information from slide to slide," said Shockley.

Research on the possible effects on drivers still isn’t complete.  A study on digital billboards by the Federal Highway Administration is expected to be released this summer.