Publicidade exterior (outdoor) ilegal

This text is the beginning of the answer to a question posed upon noticing that a large amount of the outdoor advertising alongside national motorways is illegal: how is this occurrence justifiable? Given this is a problem that stems from a clash between reality and the legislation in force, on which no previous significant writings exist and quantification possibilities are few, two main procedures were adopted: observation of reality versus legal provisions and interviews with specialists on the subjects at hand. However, after formulating the explanatory hypotheses it became evident that no case analysis or direct observation of the actors involved in licensing and enforcement was possible. Indirect methods were therefore used. The illegal nature of some of the outdoor advertisements found alongside national motorways finds its basis both from road safety (DL no. 13/71) and from environmental protection (DL no. 105/98) concerns. Despite agreement on the values requiring safeguarding, there are differences as regards liability, permits and enforcement. This fact, along with frequent legislative changes, the terminology used and different legal decisions, demanded an analysis that confirmed initial suspicions and allowed for the precisions required when typifying reality. After identifying the existence of socially relevant consequences (increased probability of accidents, environmental hazard, illegal competition and ethical/ moral hazard) a set of recommendations with regard to current practice and the legal framework is presented, with the aim of providing a partial but immediate solution to the problem. Finally, the existence of a possible link between informal local election campaign financing and the proliferation of illegal outdoor advertising remains to be examined, requiring a more sustained analysis.