N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 15 § 138.13 - 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, 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 all of the following standards:

(1) 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.

(2) All advertising must indicate that the course is six hours in length.

(3) 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 order to protect the public from potentially confusing or misleading information.

(4) No sponsoring agency, delivery agency, instructor or employee may publish, advertise or imply that the completion of the course conducted for point reduction will result in the erasing or masking of 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 will continue to be displayed on the motorist's driving record.

(5) No sponsoring agency, delivery agency, instructor or employee may make false or misleading claims or statements in any of its advertisements.

(6) All course advertising must identify the sponsoring agency and delivery agency.

(7) Any material in departmentally produced literature 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 offered by the department is prohibited.

(8) 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, delivery agency, instructor or employee shall falsely advertise or represent itself to be an agent or employee of the Department or of New York State unless the sponsoring agency is a State agency or the State agency is an approved delivery agency offering courses to its employees. No delivery agency may use the words "DMV approved" in their advertising unless they specifically state that the sponsoring agency's course has been approved by the DMV for point and insurance reduction purposes.

(9) 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.

(10) No organization shall advertise point or insurance reduction benefits in any manner until such time as such advertising has been approved in accordance with this Part.

(11) No sponsoring agency or delivery agency shall use any name other than its approved name for advertising or publicity purposes. No delivery agency may use the words "driving school" unless it is licensed in accordance with Part 76 of this Title.

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

(13) Advertising shall reflect the serious nature of the motor vehicle accident prevention course and, in no way, either through the text of the advertisement or through the name of the course, diminish the subject matter 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.

(14) Permission to re-publish any content of the department's web site 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 web site may not be placed within any other web site frames.

(15) Comparative statistics or claims which 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.

(16) No implicit or explicit claims which 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.

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

(i) Persons are eligible once in 18 months for point reduction, even if the point reduction benefit is not used. 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.

Notes

N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 15 § 138.13