British Pathe

Reel 2. C/Us of two officers in the back of the car are intercut with C/Us of the instructor and M/Ss of other vehicles on the road. The instructor describes every manoeuvre "left trafficator, first gear etc." Shot from camera mounted on front of car of instructor sticking his arm out of the window...

Reel 2. C/Us of two officers in the back of the car are intercut with C/Us of the instructor and M/Ss of other vehicles on the road. The instructor describes every manoeuvre "left trafficator, first gear etc." Shot from camera mounted on front of car of instructor sticking his arm out of the window to give the "pulling out signal." Shots of the road from inside car. He stops at a pedestrian crossing. When he describes his manoeuvres he does so in a very officious, strident tone: "Roundabout ahead, mirror, on to course, foot off the accelerator." etc. Various views of the car as it travels along. Learner driver - instructor toots on his horn to let him know he is coming past. He gives him more room than usual as he overtakes - he notes that he would also do this for a child cyclist or unsteady cyclist. He speaks of the white line in the middle of the road: "I treat it as a brick wall... I shan't cross it." He points out a van parked on a bend saying: "I expect he's got some excuse but it is a damn silly place to leave it..." He toots his horn at a man who "darts out" from behind a vehicle - "always look out for the legs underneath." He doesn't trust a man who is waving him along - "I can't see so I don't go." The limit of your vision governs your speed. Back at the mini road system, the children practice driving in their tiny cars. "...are the mistakes they make so very different than the mistakes made, not by us of course, but by "the other man"? asks the narrator.

C/U of a young, impatient driver tooting his horn and waving his arms. He overtakes on a dangerous corner - nearly knocking another child off his bike. We see "the other man" do it too. One of the children backs down a drive without a glance behind him and narrowly misses hitting a little girl. Good C/U of the boy at the wheel shrugging his shoulders. "The other man" does it too, narrowly missing a woman pushing a pushchair. She stops and gives him an earful. C/U of the man in the car (who has a very large Harry Tate moustache) - he shrugs his shoulders too. High angle shot of child getting out of his toy car, opening the car without looking behind him. Moustachioed man does the same. He shrugs his shoulders to the other driver who has to brake suddenly. A girl runs to get a ball which is in the path of the boys driving their toy cars. This is repeated with a real car and the narrator points out that this "could be a child's life lost." C/U of the impatient child driver. This echoed by moustachioed adult comically tooting his horn and looking agitated: "How much time is he going to save?" We then see him looking out of his car window at a pretty girl. M/S of the girl walking along - camera shows his point of view, first passing her, then glancing back and having a good look at her legs! "It can be funny when you see it like this, but how many accidents, how many deaths are caused in just these ways." He has to swerve to avoid another car. "Everywhere you look you'll find the other man..." C/Us of different men getting into various cars. Night shots of busy traffic scenes - "behind every headlight, the other man is lurking" "But this other man, can you honestly be sure that it isn't you?" Cut to our stern policeman instructor looking and pointing directly into the camera. "Yes you! You are the other man, stop being him!" he ends his forceful lecture with his favourite phrase: "...and if you can't see, DON'T GO!" The narrator ends by saying: "and then we'll all get home safely, every time." End title reads: "This film has been made by motorists for motorists, to draw attention to some of the common errors in driving which lead to accidents, and to show how they can be avoided. But it must be remembered that road safety is everyone's responsibility - walking, cycling or driving."

Credits: Director of Photography - Martin Rolfe. Supervising Editor - Lionel Hoare. Edited by - Darrell Random. Sound - William S. Bland and George Newberry. Production Manager - Terry Hunter. Commentator - Bob Danvers-Walker. Associate Producer - Terry Ashwood. Produced by - Howard Thomas. Directed by - Norman Prouting.

Note: excellent road safety film with quirky, cute kids in cars footage and brilliantly stern, bombastic police trainer. Good shots of bad driving.