Workcover

WorkCover TV advertisement complaint

When: 5/7/07
Where: Channel 9

Describe the ad: a young boy is waiting outside his house for his father to come home. He and his mother are worried he is late, so his mother calls on the phone - concerned that he may have had an accident at work. The sound of a car horn is then heard, as the father arrives home safe.

Complaint:

This advertisement should be withdrawn, or modified to remove the honking sound, because it is unlawful use of a car horn, violating Australian Road Rule 224. It promotes the idea that using the car horn as a door bell substitute is acceptable behaviour. It is contributing to a widespread culture of honking, which harms the peace and health of neighbours.

An escalation of careless honking also de-sensitises people to the sound of car horns and diminish it's function as a warning device.

The Board, by failing in the past to ban similar ads with illegal honking, has knowingly breached its own ethics, that ads comply with the law, on the grounds "well, it's just a little bit illegal, and everyone does it". No, everyone doesn't do it.

I have written to the NSW police minister informing him of the Board's encouragement of illegal behaviour. The reply from Les Tree, Director-General, Ministry for Police:

"Chief Superintendent John Hartley, Traffic Services Commander, has advised me that the NSW Police Force is highly active in enforcing instances of offensive noise emitting from car stereos, noisy exhausts and the frivolous use of car horns ... The following provisional figures from 2006, provided by Chief Superintendant Hartley, show the numbers of legal actions initiated by the NSW Police Force in the past year for a range of noise-related offences:

* Use / allow use of horn or similar warning device unnecessarily - 115 ..." (5 March 2007)

So the Board may feel content that it is has contributed to wasting valuable police resources on 115 occasions - outstanding work, I stand and applaud.

Australian Road Rule 224, as stated by the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority says:

"224 Using horns and similar warning devices

A driver must not use, or allow to be used, a horn, or similar warning device, fitted to or in the driver's vehicle unless:

(a) it is necessary to use the horn, or warning device, to warn other road users or animals of the approach or position of the vehicle; or

(b) the horn, or warning device, is being used as part of an anti-theft device fitted to the vehicle."

(www.rta.nsw.gov.au/trafficinformation/downloads/p133.pdf)

Violation of this rule attracts a $225 fine:

"HORNS/WARNING DEVICES Rule 224. Use/allow use of horn/warning device unnecessarily.. $225"
(www.rta.nsw.gov.au/rulesregulations/downloads/1205_demerits_general.pdf)

According to section 1.1 of the AANA Advertiser Code of Ethics: "Advertisements shall comply with Commonwealth law and the law of the relevant State or Territory.". This is a clear breach of ethics.

Careless honking is already a source of annoyance to neighbourhoods, and a trend that will continue toward third-world honk-mania if encouraged. Honking to say hello, goodbye, or hurry-up, is increasing. Such a noise can be a rude shock to the nervous system. If this happens on a daily basis, perhaps several times a day, it can be nerve shattering. People with rooms adjacent to neighbour's driveways are all too familiar with the shock of a horn blast from a few metres away.

Such behaviour is reckless firing of noise into surrounding areas without regard to whom it hurts. It is a rude invasion and trespass into private homes. Young drivers will no doubt be encouraged to do likewise, guaranteeing our streets and homes will be constantly disturbed by honk-happy drivers.

A car horn is a warning device for times of danger or emergency. A child can tell you the results of abusing warning signals: the boy who cried wolf. This ad will encourage horns to be abused and thus diminish to horn's effectiveness as a safety device.

As stated by the NSW Department of Environment:

"Horns should be used as traffic warning devices only and not as a means of relieving driver stress or frustration."

(www.epa.nsw.gov.au/resources/vehicle_noise.pdf)

Noise pollution is harmful to health and contributes to mental and physical problems. Noise is particularly harmful to sections of the community who have reduced tolerance for noise, for example, the elderly, those weakened with health problems, the mentally ill, a young mother trying to calm a baby, a war veteran with post traumatic stress disorder for whom noise triggers shock reactions, those suffering from hyperacusis (increased sensitivity to noise), those with sleep-disorders, or those simply experiencing stress from some life event. Careless honking can cause great pain to the lives of many people.

This ad encourages illegal behaviour. It should be removed on legal, health, and safety grounds.