Current through Register Vol. 45, No. 52, December 27, 2023
(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 internet pre-licensing course) by a
sponsor must conform to the following:
(1)
Advertising must reflect the serious nature of the internet pre-licensing
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 must not refer to gimmicks or enticements, such as
comedy or free gifts, or to any benefits other than eligibility to take a road
test upon completion.
(2) No
sponsor may make reference to the Department, other than to reference that the
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 may not be used. No sponsor
may advertise or imply that it is associated with or is an agent or employee of
the Department. No representative of the sponsor shall knowingly allow the use
of advertising that could lead the public to believe that they or the sponsor
are an employee, representative, or agent of the Department.
(3) No sponsor shall be permitted to conduct
business or advertise under any name that has not been approved by the
Department, pursuant to Articles 12-B, 12-C, and 12-D of the Vehicle and
Traffic Law. No sponsor may use the words "driving school," "drivers' school,"
or any variation thereof in its name in advertising unless it is licensed in
accordance with Part 76 of the Commissioner's Regulations.
(4) No sponsor may advertise approval to
administer an internet pre-licensing course in any manner until the course has
been approved by the Department. No organization shall advertise in any manner
that such organization can provide students with eligibility to take a road
test until such time as the sponsor and the course have been approved by the
Department.
(5) All advertising
must indicate that the course includes a minimum of two hundred seventy (270)
minutes of instruction.
(6) If a
language other than English is used in the course, all advertising related to
such course must contain this fact.
(7) Internet pre-licensing course advertising
shall not be combined with any other advertising, such as driving school or
insurance agency advertising, unless it has been approved by the Department, in
accordance with this section, in order to protect the public from potentially
confusing or misleading information.
(8) No sponsor may publish, advertise, or
imply that the completion of the course conducted for pre-licensing will result
in "erasing", "masking" or deleting any information from a motorist's driving
record, the reduction of points, or successful completion of a road test or
driver education.
(9) No sponsor or
employee may make false or misleading claims or statements in any of its
advertisements.
(10) All course
advertising must identify the sponsor and the internet pre-licensing
course.
(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 sponsor, or employee shall falsely
advertise or represent itself to be an agent or employee of New York State
unless the sponsor is a State agency offering a Department-approved course to
its employees.
(13) No sponsor
shall conduct business or display or distribute any advertising material within
a building owned or leased by the State or a county in which motor vehicle
registrations or licenses are issued to the public.
(14) A copy, recording, or video of any
advertisement shall be kept on file by a sponsor for five (5) years from the
date it was last used or distributed to promote the internet pre-licensing
course, along with a record of when and where it was used or
distributed.
(15) Permission to
re-publish any content of the Department's web site shall be obtained by the
sponsor from the Department in writing prior to re-publishing such content. 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.
(16) Comparative statistics or claims that
state or imply that one sponsor is more effective than another are prohibited.
The effectiveness of one sponsor'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
Department in accordance with the standards of this section before they may be
used.
(18) The Department may
require a sponsor to modify or discontinue advertising that the Department
deems inappropriate, false, or misleading.
Department of Motor Vehicles
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Adopted
New
York State Register June 17, 2020/Volume XLII, Issue 24, eff.
6/17/2020