N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 15 § 141.13

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 36, September 4, 2024

Section 141.13 - Course advertising

(a) Any form of advertising (including verbal or written statements, promotional materials, brochures, leaflets, newspaper and magazine ads, yellow page ads, radio and television publicity, receipts, internet web pages, pop up ads or any other medium which makes reference to the accident prevention course or point and insurance reduction benefits) by a sponsoring agency and/or delivery agency must conform with the following standards:

(1) advertising shall reflect the serious nature of the motor vehicle accident prevention course and, in no manner, either through the text of the advertisement or through the name of the course, diminish the subject matter or serious nature of the course. Advertising shall not refer to gimmicks or enticements, such as comedy or free gifts, or to any benefits other than point and insurance reduction.

(2) The only acceptable reference to the department is that the sponsoring agency's course is approved by the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. Words which convey partnership, such as "in cooperation with," "supervised by," "recommended by," or "endorsed by" the Department of Motor Vehicles may not be used. No sponsoring agency may advertise or imply that it is associated with or is an agent or employee of the department. No representative of the ADM sponsoring agency shall knowingly allow the use of advertising that could lead the public to believe that they or their sponsor are an employee, representative or agent of the department.

(3) No sponsoring agency course shall be permitted to conduct business or advertise under any name that has not been approved by the department, pursuant to articles 12-B and 12-C of the Vehicle and Traffic Law. No sponsoring agency or delivery agency may use the words "driving school" in its name in advertising unless it is licensed in accordance with part 76 of the Commissioner's Regulations.

(4) No sponsoring agency may advertise in any manner until approved by the department. No organization shall advertise point or insurance reduction benefits in any manner until such time as the course has been approved by the department.

(5) A sponsoring agency is responsible for the content of the advertising of its delivery agencies with regard to the point and insurance reduction program. Sponsoring agencies shall review and approve all delivery agency advertising to ensure compliance with this Part or provide pre-approved advertising materials for delivery agencies to use.

(6) All advertising must indicate that the course is a minimum of 320 minutes in length.

(7) Point/Insurance Reduction Program advertising shall not be combined with any other advertising, such as driving school or insurance agency advertising, unless it has been approved by the sponsoring agency, in accordance with this section, in order to protect the public from potentially confusing or misleading information.

(8) No sponsoring agency may publish, advertise or imply that the completion of the course conducted for point reduction will result in "erasing", "masking" or deleting any information from a motorist's driving record. Communication with course participants must clearly indicate that while certain departmental administrative actions based upon a motorist's point accumulation may be prevented, all traffic convictions, as well as the points designated for such convictions, will continue to be displayed on the motorist's driving record. Sponsors shall inform students about the New York State Driver Responsibility Assessment (DRA) and indicate that completing a course will not affect mandatory fines or assessments such as the DRA.

(9) No sponsoring agency or employee may make false or misleading claims or statements in any of its advertisements.

(10) All course advertising must identify the sponsoring agency and the ADM method.

(11) Any material contained in literature produced by the department may be quoted without attribution, provided the quote retains its original meaning. Any presentation of departmental material which implies or creates a meaning other than the meaning intended by the department is prohibited.

(12) No sponsoring agency, delivery agency, or employee shall falsely advertise or represent itself to be an agent or employee of New York State unless the sponsoring agency is a State agency offering a DMV approved course to its employees.

(13) No sponsoring agency or delivery agency shall conduct business or display or distribute any advertising material within a building owned or leased by the State or county in which motor vehicle registrations or licensees are issued to the public.

(14) A copy, recording or videotape of any advertisement shall be kept on file by a sponsoring agency or delivery agency for five years along with a record of when and where it was used or distributed.

(15) Permission to re-publish any content of the department's website shall be obtained from the department's internet office. The department will provide an image to use as a link to the site. The department's website may not be placed within any other website frames.

(16) Comparative statistics or claims that state or imply that one sponsoring agency is more effective than another are not to be used. The effectiveness of one sponsoring agency's approved course may not be statistically compared to another approved course for advertising and promotional purposes.

(17) No implicit or explicit claims that are not supported by documentation are permissible. Such documentation and the proposed advertising must be reviewed and approved by the sponsoring agency in accordance with the standards of this section before they may be used.

(18) The commissioner may, in his or her discretion, require a sponsoring agency or its delivery agency to modify or discontinue advertising that is deemed inappropriate, false or misleading.

(19) Sponsoring agencies or delivery agencies should consider including the following topic guidelines in their advertising:

(i) persons are eligible to receive point reduction once in 18 months. Points which are reduced remain on a motorist's record, but are not counted by the department in determining further administrative actions against the license.

(ii) Point reduction does not affect actions mandated by statute, such as license revocation for three speeding convictions within 18 months.

(iii) Point reduction does not affect suspensions or revocations already in place.

(iv) The only acceptable reference to insurance reduction is that successful completion of the course provides a 10 percent reduction, for three years, in the base rate of the motorist's current automobile liability, no-fault and collision premiums.

(v) Quotes or references to specific dollar amounts saved are not acceptable.

(vi) Implicit or explicit claims that reduction may be less than or greater than 10 percent annually are not acceptable.

(vii) No implicit or explicit claim may be made that repeating the course more frequently than once every three years yields an improvement over the 10 percent reduction in liability and collision insurance rates for each three consecutive years.

(viii) Any statement must include the requirement that the person completing a course must be the principal operator of the insured vehicle in order to be eligible for reduction.

N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 15 § 141.13