New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 15 - Department of Motor Vehicles › Chapter I - REGULATIONS OF THE COMMISSIONER › Subchapter J - Driver Rehabilitation Programs › Part 141 - Motor Vehicle Accident Prevention Course By Internet Or Other Technologies (alternate Delivery Methods) › Section 141.13 - Course advertising

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
(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.