ASA bans the Scammers poster.....
Discussion
www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=1084&ArticleID=1277781
Safety group rapped over speed cameras claim
A ROAD safety group been criticised by consumer watchdogs for misleadingly claiming that speed cameras are only placed at fatal accident blackspots.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned a shock-tactic poster, right, showing four gravestones which claims that four people must have died on a road before a camera can be installed.
In an adjudication published yesterday, the standards authority accuses the West Yorkshire Casualty Reduction Partnership of deceiving motorists with its publicity drive to justify the spread of cameras.
Department for Transport rules sanction cameras where four people have been either seriously injured or killed in accidents in the previous three years – not just death crashes.
The Department's Handbook of Rules and Guidance for the National Safety Camera Programme for England and Wales for 2005-06, published in 2004, also allows for cameras if local residents are concerned about vehicles breaking the speed limit as they pass their homes.
Cameras can also be installed where there is a high incidence of less serious injuries – even if the more stringent condition is not met. They can additionally be sited as a short-term measure on dangerous roads that require safety improvements or where temporary speed limits are imposed because of roadworks.
The rules do not only apply to existing traps set before the guidance was issued in November 2004.
The offending gravestone poster showed a speed camera and claimed that motorists see such a camera where there have been "at least four" deaths.
An ASA spokesman said: "We considered that the pictures of the camera and gravestones and the claims were misleading.
"We noted the poster was no longer appearing but told West Yorkshire Casualty Reduction Partnership not to repeat the approach."
The partnership defended its use of the posters.
"The poster contained a visual representation of one of the principal criteria that govern the installation of speed control safety cameras," said a spokesman.
"We believed the poster was educational and informative, not misleading."
The number of speed cameras has rocketed since they were first introduced in 1992. West Yorkshire currently has 154 fixed cameras and plans for a further 12.
Partnerships have been allowed to use the money raised through fines to fund more cameras since 2000 and there are now around 6,500 sites where fixed or mobile camera traps are deployed.
More than 12 million motorists have so far been snapped and over two million were fined last year compared with 200,000 ten years ago.
West Yorkshire Casualty Reduction Partnership says there were 29 fewer deaths in the first six months of this year, when 34 people were killed in the county compared with 63 in the same period in 2004 .
The ASA began its investigation following two complaints from the public, one from West Yorkshire and one from Buckinghamshire.
Safety group rapped over speed cameras claim
A ROAD safety group been criticised by consumer watchdogs for misleadingly claiming that speed cameras are only placed at fatal accident blackspots.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned a shock-tactic poster, right, showing four gravestones which claims that four people must have died on a road before a camera can be installed.
In an adjudication published yesterday, the standards authority accuses the West Yorkshire Casualty Reduction Partnership of deceiving motorists with its publicity drive to justify the spread of cameras.
Department for Transport rules sanction cameras where four people have been either seriously injured or killed in accidents in the previous three years – not just death crashes.
The Department's Handbook of Rules and Guidance for the National Safety Camera Programme for England and Wales for 2005-06, published in 2004, also allows for cameras if local residents are concerned about vehicles breaking the speed limit as they pass their homes.
Cameras can also be installed where there is a high incidence of less serious injuries – even if the more stringent condition is not met. They can additionally be sited as a short-term measure on dangerous roads that require safety improvements or where temporary speed limits are imposed because of roadworks.
The rules do not only apply to existing traps set before the guidance was issued in November 2004.
The offending gravestone poster showed a speed camera and claimed that motorists see such a camera where there have been "at least four" deaths.
An ASA spokesman said: "We considered that the pictures of the camera and gravestones and the claims were misleading.
"We noted the poster was no longer appearing but told West Yorkshire Casualty Reduction Partnership not to repeat the approach."
The partnership defended its use of the posters.
"The poster contained a visual representation of one of the principal criteria that govern the installation of speed control safety cameras," said a spokesman.
"We believed the poster was educational and informative, not misleading."
The number of speed cameras has rocketed since they were first introduced in 1992. West Yorkshire currently has 154 fixed cameras and plans for a further 12.
Partnerships have been allowed to use the money raised through fines to fund more cameras since 2000 and there are now around 6,500 sites where fixed or mobile camera traps are deployed.
More than 12 million motorists have so far been snapped and over two million were fined last year compared with 200,000 ten years ago.
West Yorkshire Casualty Reduction Partnership says there were 29 fewer deaths in the first six months of this year, when 34 people were killed in the county compared with 63 in the same period in 2004 .
The ASA began its investigation following two complaints from the public, one from West Yorkshire and one from Buckinghamshire.
catso said:
www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=1084&ArticleID=1277781
"The poster contained a visual representation of one of the principal criteria that govern the installation of speed control safety cameras," said a spokesman.
So for the next poster, they've decided to use this
supermono said:
"If it was a company"
What do you think it is then? It has employees, it generates revenue, and it has an advertising budget.
Make no mistake, these guys are in business -- and a very lucrative one it is too.
SM
...but according to another PH thread it isn't a legal entitity so can't be sued!
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