Australian alarm at ads glorifying speed

By REBECCA WALSH AND NZPA

Australia is likely to follow New Zealand in banning advertisements showing cars being driven too fast.

Alarmed at the road toll, especially the number of young men dying, state and federal transport ministers will this month consider a draft code on car advertising.

Possible targets include an ad removed from New Zealand screens in 2000 which shows a Ford ute overtaking the holder of a land speed record with the driver's mate suggesting that the jet-powered car might be stuck in third gear.

Another controversial ad shows a Ford sedan on a racetrack going so fast that the driver's cheeks are distorted.

Glen Wiggs, executive director of New Zealand's Advertising Standards Authority, says the Australian move illustrates the difference between the two countries' regulatory systems.

"We have a comprehensive self-regulatory system in New Zealand ... We act and we act fast. In Australia they wait for the Government to do something."

Last year, the authority received seven complaints about car advertisements. Three were upheld or settled.

David Wright, director of the Land Transport Safety Authority, says there are plenty of other ways to promote cars, such as focusing on safety features.



And Australian Automobile Association executive director Lauchlan Macintosh is convinced advertisements can encourage dangerous driving.

"These ads are clearly targeting young males. Nowhere do you see females driving fast across the desert ... These ads make irresponsible driving look acceptable - our argument is there are plenty of other ways to advertise cars."

The Australian draft code unveiled last month by the Department of Transport - after input from New Zealand's LTSA - says advertisements should not suggest:

* Top-speed capabilities in excess of the speed limit.

* Speed limits being exceeded.

* Driving at high speed being exhilarating or exciting.

* Driving being portrayed as a competitive sport.

Disclaimers such as "filmed under controlled conditions" would not generally be acceptable, nor would scenarios that "are clearly presented as fantasy or humour" or "depictions of, or references to, car chases".

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, which represents car makers, says the code is too harsh and is working on an alternative.

Its chief executive, Peter Sturrock, condemns as "spurious" suggested links between advertisements and speeding drivers.

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