ANATOMY OF AN ACCIDENT

foreign [Music] [Applause] foreign foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] I got tired oh I'm so sorry I'm very sorry it's very comfortable it's a lovely chair [Music] how much is this fifty dollars what's going on here I'll give you 30. oh but it cost 200. I'll give you 35. all it's worth you can't show my chair [Music] all right 35. why are you selling my chair but this is robbery don't let him do this oh I forget him she doesn't even know I'm here nobody does and yet it was only a few weeks ago In This Very Room it all started oh John mm-hmm oh John yeah this letter from mother she wants us to come up there this weekend this weekend she can't get the money she wants from Brubaker for the property she knows that you can but we're going to be up there in a couple of weeks on our vacation anyway I hate to make that long extra trip now I know but Brubaker won't wait for two weeks for you give me that ball hey Dan hey Dad mommy Kathy I'm gonna phone mother and tell her we're coming up there all right hey are we going to see Grandma yeah it looks like it okay catch it you two kids get that ball out of here right now hey we'll go play in the backyard oh I know it's 250 miles each way this would be my busiest time we're installing phones in that new subdivision and they all want service right away if not sooner and this safety program is taking a lot of time too why do you have to spend so much time on that to make sure that our people know the value of safe driving hey which reminds me I've got to find a day soon where I can take my own driver refresher course you mean you have to take driving lessons every employee who drives a telephone company vehicle gets defensive driver training as well as refresher courses are you sure they all know what defensive driving is well I hope so we try to impress upon them that a defensive driver is one who makes allowances for the lack of skill and a lack of knowledge on the part of the other fellow who recognizes that he has no control over the unpredictable actions of another driver or of pedestrians or the condition of the roads or the weather and who therefore develops a defensive attitude toward those hazards sounds very sensible but what in the world is this thing for I haven't named it yet but it's to use in one of our driver classes if they want it you see the three C's of defensive driving are concentration control and courtesy I told Woody about this idea I had to illustrate concentration and he asked me to work it out for the class you see what I'm trying to prove is that driving is a full-time job when you start looking through that windshield you've got to concentrate on what you're doing you mustn't think about the time or how hungry you are oh I get it or don't worry about money or what you're going to do on your vacation that's the idea and you must not get irritated and you mustn't think about some red head oh redheads Bond same thing the one you have at home I mean listen I know what I've got at home kiddo I know when I'm well off I must warn Woody about that when he uses his poster tomorrow and that's a big one family problems personal problems you just can't be worrying about problems and concentrate on your driving at the same time yes Ted how are you going to help it everybody's got problems they can be job problems too like a storm knocking out a cable those are things that you're bound to think about all right I'll give you a problem to think about as a driver and it's a real problem we believe that the vast majority of accidents happen because drivers are thinking about something else besides their driving I I still don't see what we can do about it but we have to try any ideas John well I think we have to be realistic about it no matter what we tell them drivers are still going to think about other things besides driving that's for darn sure I think if we try to develop safe driving habits and concentrate on them while we're driving then we'll be much better off right and one of the best driving habits you can learn is to keep a buffer zone a space cushion all around your moving vehicle now for example let's say you're going at 20 miles an hour on in two-way traffic with cars parked along the side of the street your buffer zone should look like this this two-car length of protective space in front and in the rear of your car gives you a safe stopping distance with good brakes on dry pavement and remember when any other car moves into your buffer zone you should take defensive or evasive action promptly this one car length allowed for each 10 miles of your driving speed will provide you with seeing space so that the actions of the drivers around you can be observed in time to keep out of trouble it provides you with space to see ahead to a traffic light or something like a double parked car you know you can't see things like that if you're bumper chasing another car it also provides you with thinking time so you can make the right decision about the conditions around you and it provides action times so that you can come to a quick Sure Stop or take whatever other action is necessary in order to avoid an accident that's why we have these refresher courses including our road test this afternoon just to make sure we're not slipping into any unsafe habits all right now let's set up a problem on the traffic board here we have a car going east and one of our installer trucks heading north the intersection is unmarked neither way is the stop Street both cars reach the intersection at the same time now which car has the right-of-way Denny the car on the right always has a right away rest if you agree with that Handley I'm not if you're a defensive driver or would you care to explain Matt in a situation like this when there's any question about so-called right away we have to remember that in our company we always give the right away never take it in other words you practice courtesy right it's one of the three C's of defensive driving all right now let's make a switch the same driver but instead of a company car he's in his own car now what difference does that make none no difference of course not that's the big thing it's not the biggest thing for those of us in the telephone company to remember you know we can be you might be proud of the fact that the Bell System has one of the most outstanding safety records and has had for a long time but the only way we can keep that record is to work at it work hard to make it even better when the public sees this Bell System sign on one of our cars of trucks we want them to be able to say there goes one of the most considerate drivers in town trouble is some of us when we're off the job forget and leave our defensive driving know-how in the company garage and that's why the driver of this car if he's doing what he's supposed to do will be just as careful and just as courteous as when he's driving for the company now when all of us do that we won't be having 20 times as many injuries off the job as we have driving on the job 20 times as many that's right that was not the limit we know better why don't we do better think about that will you the next time you're out in your car [Music] ly oh everybody [Music] that's just your pumpkin coat your weights Oh Daddy you mean Cinderella I mean get in there 250 miles to drive and Saturday traffic where's Tommy he's coming Grandma wanna hear me claim a new bugle I just bet you but not on the way up one two hero yes sir slide in there son help check us out all right try the lights now the brights now the directional lights okay [Music] step on the brakes stop lights okay give me the tail lights [Music] directionals again [Music] okay left front tire is a little low we'll stop for gas and have it checked we ready Boston you bet hey what's up slide over just as important with the car as it is with an airplane [Applause] right [Music] where is everybody going I often wondered look at that Sunday drivers are really out today they're always out that's one of the things we learn in defensive driving we not only have to watch out that we don't make any mistakes ourselves but we have to look out for the other drivers too we have to protect ourselves and them too if we can you know it's a pretty sobering thought but whenever I I'm out in traffic and I see those cars whizzing by like that I say to myself which ones will it be today which ones will be what dad will be in an accident one out of seven of those cars will have an accident before the year is out and that's according to statistics in the next five years every one of those drivers will be involved in an accident if he is next to careful so I always remember that and I try to be extra careful myself I don't want us to be one of them [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] that's dangerous getting out in traffic like that boys the guy behind us too close you should always keep a buffer zone of space between you and a car ahead of course that driver up ahead was badly at fault too the one that came out without stopping I wonder how a driver like that feels after causing other people trouble and getting away Scott for himself pretty small I bet yeah I wonder what that one is thinking right now there's some sort of smash-up back there it seems serves him right oh the way some people drive well weren't we supposed to stop and get mixed up in that well I I I mean that that stop sign on that other Street oh that oh I was gonna stop only when I saw that open place I slid in quick before somebody else did well it's not my fault that some of those silly drivers were going so fast they couldn't stop goodness knows I don't have any accidents that's got it mister the dog was leaking a little but it's tight now thanks Come On Son okay okay foreign I got a map so I can watch the road Dad okay Tommy you'll be the co-pilot [Music] [Applause] foreign don't tell me what is it dear that clunker up ahead there the one that's holding everybody up it looks like the same one that caused that pilot back on Broad Street [Music] [Applause] did you ever hear so many horrid Honkers oh be quiet back there I'm not gonna drive any faster for anybody I see the speed limit is 35 miles how fast are we going we're only going 22. so what we're in no hurry it's free country [Applause] [Music] have a heart lady get a move on or get over you mind your own business but you're holding everybody up back there but you kindly watch what you're doing don't you worry about me you just oh foreign [Music] huh it never pays to get mad while you're driving you're inviting an accident and you take time to yell at other drivers and if they drive like idiots it's not up to you to tell them off or try to get even when they're hogging the road like that car's been doing if they have to drive slow there are plenty of places to pull over and let other people pass the others have been getting robbed but it's a very dangerous thing to do as you just saw but he stopped arguing with him the rest got by well suppose he'd met a car that couldn't stop no son you've got to drive as if there's someone coming around every curve and up over every Hill would you take a chance if there isn't how much would you bet on it your allowance a hundred dollars a million dollars I haven't got a hundred dollars but I suppose somebody came along and offered you a million dollars for your life would you take it John don't even talk like that do you mean I'll be dead yeah not me I wouldn't take it all right then your life is worth more than a million dollars so don't bet it on getting around one car in order to save a couple of minutes gamble isn't worth it the stakes are too high for what you can possibly get out of it aren't they he [Music] well we're next in line anyway the folks back there are honking at us we have got a long line back there haven't we and they can hardly get by until we do how can those Sunday drivers be so inconsiderate still got a lot of miles to go they're just out for a buggy ride why don't we go back to Shore Drive far there's a shortcut along here pretty good pretty quick let's move over a little bit further now it won't be crowded like this it's a dirt road but not a soul use it [Music] there's a sign of the roads just around the band [Music] make it maybe I won't yes how I remember every awful detail I pull out to pass the other car swings right still [Applause] I live it again and again like in slow motion we're gonna hit oh God [Music] they found my lifeless body they found my son crumpled and unconscious from hitting his head on the windshield Helen Kathy shaken and stunned it isn't fair to die of such a little thing that wasn't my fault I wasn't ready to die besides who's going to take care of my family I'm the one who does that and right now is when they need me the most that's what fathers are for don't do that don't move that boy until the doctor comes where is the doctor has anyone sent for him Kathy's dumb poor Susie but it's only a doll don't don't just stand there go to a phone call a doctor for Tommy call an ambulance there's heaven and Kathy thank God they're not hurt any worse than they are but who's gonna look out for him that's the horrible thing about an accident it doesn't just end here look at that car Helen's never had to handle anything like this by herself now she's out here in the middle of nowhere what's she going to do what are she and the children going to do from now on without me well what's going to become of them well I found out the home was breaking up the home that had been the center of our world our happy world before us and Helen bless your heart the sweetest person in the world but not prepared to cope with things things like keeping the rest of the family together and moving up to where mother lives meeting Tommy's doctor bills how is Tommy just about the same I'm on my way over there right now well he'll be better I'm sure he will thank you goodbye goodbye poor thing her little boy's been in a coma for over a month oh no never regained Consciousness after the accident or where is he now still in the hospital [Music] oh my son my son what have I done to you and your mom and Kathy oh Tommy huh what dad is that you just tell me [Music] where you been I've been around you remember the accident sure we bid on it after all we lost didn't we yes son we lost but it wasn't my fault you know that don't you that's why I came back I had to be sure you understood you do understand don't you tell me the other car was going so slow and the horns were honking behind us and I thought we could get around but the other car swerved over and suddenly the truck was there it was too much to bet wasn't it Dad yes son yes it was oh poor Tommy stay with your mother she needs you hello Miss Giddings is it all right if I go in and see Tommy for a minute thank you [Music] darken here [Music] [Music] tell me [Music] nurse nurse [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh my darling my poor darling what have I what have I done I don't know please [Music] please [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]