{"product_id":"decade-of-highway-death-traffic-safety-scare-films","title":"Decade of Highway Death: Traffic Safety Scare Films","description":"There's blood on the windshield in this shocking collection of traffic safety films, some as gruesome as anything in a horror movie! In the wake of World War II, there were more cars on the streets and newly-constructed highways of the U.S.A. than ever before. The Highway Safety Foundation worried that Americans were not properly obeying the rules of the road. Enlisting the movie industry (never known for its subtlety) to shock people into driving properly, the resulting films went overboard in their depiction of horrendous car crashes and mangled victims. If anything, they created an audience of moviegoers eager to see real-life death and destruction, culminating in such 'pseudo-documentaries' as \u003ci\u003eFaces of Death\u003c\/i\u003e (1978) and its imitators. You'll think twice about getting into a car after watching these vintage films!\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSAFETY OR SLAUGHTER (1958):\u003c\/b\u003e Believed to be the first movie to use actual road accident footage, \u003ci\u003eSafety or Slaughter\u003c\/i\u003e unknowingly kicked off years of graphic traffic safety films! Host Gordon Anderson, \"general manager of the Industrial Accident Prevention Association\", explains that when an adult gives a teenager \"a car for the evening so they can have a good time\" it's \"just like giving them a loaded gun!\" (and then points a .45 at the camera!)  Horrific accidents can only be prevented by eliminating \"human factors\" such as \"fatigue, poor vision, irritation, and just plain bad manners.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eINTERRUPTED MORNING (1961):\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eInterrupted Morning\u003c\/i\u003e begins with a solemn Raymond Burr seated at his desk. \"As usual, I'm working on a dramatic case,\" TV's Perry Mason says, \"but in this instance, I'm a prosecuting attorney...an accuser.\" His argument for the necessity of seatbelts is a good one, particularly since \"FBI agents, state troopers, and racing drivers\" all wear them! The man who once pursued Godzilla finally confesses, \"I'll tell you something quite honest. Living is...\u003ci\u003every\u003c\/i\u003e important to me.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eWHEELS OF TRAGEDY (1963):\u003c\/b\u003e For some reason, the Ohio State Highway Patrol produced the most gruesome of all the traffic safety films. \u003ci\u003eWheels of Tragedy\u003c\/i\u003e is no exception, as it follows patrolmen Bill Bradley and Charles C. McQue, who we are assured are \"not actors\" (which explains line readings like, \"Did you need...uhhh...an ambulance?\") on the beginning of a holiday weekend. It isn't long before traffic casualties start piling up by the dozens, including two sleepy drivers who end up in the morgue because they \"don't sell coffee on Highway 71!\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eBEFORE IT'S TOO LATE (1964):\u003c\/b\u003e Raymond Burr wasn't the only celebrity who got roped into promoting seatbelt safety. The same year he danced with cartoon penguins in \u003ci\u003eMary Poppins\u003c\/i\u003e, Dick Van Dyke hosted this earnest dissertation on the importance of seatbelts. He even shares a near-death experience of his own! \"Without a seat belt,\" the beloved actor cheerfully announces, \"I would've gone head first through a hard cement wall!\"  To hammer Dick's point home, crash test dummies are shown being smashed to pieces.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eDECADE OF HIGHWAY DEATH (1971):\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eDecade of Highway Death\u003c\/i\u003e abandons any pretense of a story to present a \"greatest hits\" retrospective on the 10th anniversary of the Highway Safety Foundation, with only a grim narrator holding things together. \"You say you can't remember what the Highway Safety Foundation does?' he asks, \"We showed you the injured, the dying...the dead. We showed you...\u003ci\u003epain\u003c\/i\u003e.\" After close to a half-hour of bleeding wounds and mangled bodies, it's doubtful anyone could possibly forget. \"We will continue to make motion pictures that will shock you,\" he concludes, \"and, possibly, make you ill.\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Alpha Video","offers":[{"title":"DVD","offer_id":45802748805270,"sku":"089218805591","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0703\/9621\/5446\/files\/089218805591.jpg?v=1762202259","url":"https:\/\/moviezyng.com\/products\/decade-of-highway-death-traffic-safety-scare-films","provider":"Movie Zyng","version":"1.0","type":"link"}