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Drivers given free ticket to speed

LONDON (Reuters) - A computer game company's offer to pay the speeding fines of all drivers as part of an advertising promotion for a new motor racing game has been branded irresponsible and dangerous by the government. Acclaim Entertainment said on Wednesday it would refund the fines of any driver caught by speed camera on October 11 to mark the launch of a new PlayStation 2 driving game "Burnout 2: Point of Impact".

Acclaim spokesman Shaun White said the company did not condone speeding but
wanted to "ease the financial pain a bit".

"Taking the side of people who enjoy driving fast, it therefore seemed quite logical to offer people caught by camera something that would make them feel
OK about it," he said.

But the Department of Transport said the campaign would be likely to promote
speeding and encourage dangerous driving.

"If they want to foot what is likely to be a hefty bill, that is their choice. But we cannot condone something that so obviously encourages people
to break the law and do something dangerous," a spokesman said. "Basically they are encouraging people to speed and to break the law. I just hope for their sakes that none of these people ends up knocking down a child.

It is not the first time the computer game company has attracted headlines
over its marketing campaigns.

A call for people to change their name by deed poll to Turok, the hero of a dinosaur-hunter computer game, in return for 500 pounds attracted more than 3,000 applicants in August.

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