Broken Glass

Year Published: 1963

Description: Created by the University of California and Charles Cahill Productions to highlight the importance of seatbelts and the work of the Institute of Transportation and Traffic Engineering, "Broken Glass" dates to 1963. The film shows the risks associated with different driving speeds and the impact of collisions. It includes demonstrations of controlled impacts, part of experiments conducted by the University of California to study car crashes and improve safety. This includes the use of anthropometric dummies to measure the effects of collisions on passengers. The importance of safety seat belts and shoulder harnesses in preventing injuries is shown, as well as the dangers to unrestrained children in car accidents and the use of lifelike dolls in experiments. The conclusion of the film emphasises the driver's role in ensuring safety by being attentive and careful. 0:21: Introduction mentioning a police report about an accident where a driver hit another car at less than 30 miles per hour. A hearse is shown and the narrator mentions the irony that the driver will be driven to his funeral in the hearse, at roughly the same speed as his accident. 0:39: Description of a car accident where a woman was critically injured and taken to the hospital in an ambulance. Fast or slow, speed kills sign. 1:01: Discussion on the dangers of speed, emphasizing that any speed can be fatal in a collision. Animation of a car accident. 1:20: Explanation of the forces involved in a car crash, even at 25 mph. 1:30: Mention of the University of California's Institute of Transportation and Traffic Engineering, established in 1947. 2:06: Examples of controlled impact experiments to study collisions. 2:31: Introduction of anthropometric dummies used in experiments to measure stresses and forces during collisions. 3:00: Emphasis on the importance of safety seat belts and shoulder harnesses. in an accident test. 3:45: Discussion on the dangers to unrestrained children in car accidents, using lifelike dolls in experiments. Use of large dolls to simulate children or babies. 4:02: Preparation for a unique experiment involving deliberate car accidents. 4:17: cameraman uses a 16mm movie camera to film a crash test. 4:44: Demonstration of a 20 mph collision and its effects on restrained and unrestrained passengers. 5:10: Description of the severe injuries that can occur to unrestrained children in collisions. 6:03: Discussion on the dangers of driving at 30 mph through a blind intersection. 6:42: Plymouth Fury on the road. Explanation of the critical injuries that can result from low-speed crashes. Traffic light changes to red. 6:54: Los Angeles freeway interchange. 7:14: Emphasis on the dangers of driving at 40 mph through intersections and the potential for disastrous collisions. 7:24: Crash test dummy shown with head injury. 8:25: Demonstration of a 40 mph collision without seat belts, showing the severe consequences. 8:39: Crash test dummy is examined in a medical exam room. 9:02: Analysis of data from experimental impacts, including medical diagnoses of dummy injuries. 9:28: Notes and photographs taken at test sites to document every detail of collisions. 10:12: Discussion on the commonality of side-impact collisions and their serious consequences. Red Plymouth Fury convertible seen. 10:39: Emphasis on the importance of wearing safety belts to minimize or prevent injuries in collisions. 11:00: Blonde woman gets in an accident when a car suddenly pulls out in front of her. Saved by a seatbelt. Reminder that the most important safety factor is the driver’s attention and skill. 11:55: Off ramp for Griffith Park in Los Angeles. Warp up: importance of being a careful and attentive driver to ensure safety on the road. End credits mention H.E. Davis, Director of the Institute for Traffic Engineering, as well as research associates J.H. Mathewson, D.M. Severy, and A.W. Siegel.

Complete Record: Created by the University of California and Charles Cahill Productions to highlight the importance of seatbelts and the work of the Institute of Transportation and Traffic Engineering, "Broken Glass" dates to 1963. The film shows the risks associated with different driving speeds and the impact of collisions. It includes demonstrations of controlled impacts, part of experiments conducted by the University of California to study car crashes and improve safety. This includes the use of anthropometric dummies to measure the effects of collisions on passengers. The importance of safety seat belts and shoulder harnesses in preventing injuries is shown, as well as the dangers to unrestrained children in car accidents and the use of lifelike dolls in experiments. The conclusion of the film emphasises the driver's role in ensuring safety by being attentive and careful. 0:21: Introduction mentioning a police report about an accident where a driver hit another car at less than 30 miles per hour. A hearse is shown and the narrator mentions the irony that the driver will be driven to his funeral in the hearse, at roughly the same speed as his accident. 0:39: Description of a car accident where a woman was critically injured and taken to the hospital in an ambulance. Fast or slow, speed kills sign. 1:01: Discussion on the dangers of speed, emphasizing that any speed can be fatal in a collision. Animation of a car accident. 1:20: Explanation of the forces involved in a car crash, even at 25 mph. 1:30: Mention of the University of California's Institute of Transportation and Traffic Engineering, established in 1947. 2:06: Examples of controlled impact experiments to study collisions. 2:31: Introduction of anthropometric dummies used in experiments to measure stresses and forces during collisions. 3:00: Emphasis on the importance of safety seat belts and shoulder harnesses. in an accident test. 3:45: Discussion on the dangers to unrestrained children in car accidents, using lifelike dolls in experiments. Use of large dolls to simulate children or babies. 4:02: Preparation for a unique experiment involving deliberate car accidents. 4:17: cameraman uses a 16mm movie camera to film a crash test. 4:44: Demonstration of a 20 mph collision and its effects on restrained and unrestrained passengers. 5:10: Description of the severe injuries that can occur to unrestrained children in collisions. 6:03: Discussion on the dangers of driving at 30 mph through a blind intersection. 6:42: Plymouth Fury on the road. Explanation of the critical injuries that can result from low-speed crashes. Traffic light changes to red. 6:54: Los Angeles freeway interchange. 7:14: Emphasis on the dangers of driving at 40 mph through intersections and the potential for disastrous collisions. 7:24: Crash test dummy shown with head injury. 8:25: Demonstration of a 40 mph collision without seat belts, showing the severe consequences. 8:39: Crash test dummy is examined in a medical exam room. 9:02: Analysis of data from experimental impacts, including medical diagnoses of dummy injuries. 9:28: Notes and photographs taken at test sites to document every detail of collisions. 10:12: Discussion on the commonality of side-impact collisions and their serious consequences. Red Plymouth Fury convertible seen. 10:39: Emphasis on the importance of wearing safety belts to minimize or prevent injuries in collisions. 11:00: Blonde woman gets in an accident when a car suddenly pulls out in front of her. Saved by a seatbelt. Reminder that the most important safety factor is the driver’s attention and skill. 11:55: Off ramp for Griffith Park in Los Angeles. Warp up: importance of being a careful and attentive driver to ensure safety on the road. End credits mention H.E. Davis, Director of the Institute for Traffic Engineering, as well as research associates J.H. Mathewson, D.M. Severy, and A.W. Siegel.

Transcription

[Music] according to police reports the driver approaching on play Street just about the same speed as the hearse it will take him to the cemetery observers said that the woman whose car he hit was doing less than 30 but the ambulance that took her to the Receiving Hospital was traveling faster than that because she was in critical condition the sign says speed kills maybe it ought to be revised fast or slow any speed kills and mimes and cost money when you hit something with your car you probably couldn't get it all on the sign because we should add any speed can kill in the Collision inside the car get this picture at only 25 mph you're traveling through space at more than 36 ft a second the crash stops the car but you keep going smashing against the car's interior it wasn't until recent years that anyone knew exactly what went on during the split-second duration of an automobile Collision One scientific approach to the problem was begun in 1947 when the state leg legislature established at the University of California The Institute of transportation and traffic engineering one of whose tasks is to carry on collision engineering research the people of the Institute had learned that the study of Road accidents after they had happened failed to provide certain essential answers and so they developed controlled impact experiments cars Guided by tracks drawn by token cables to collide at predetermined speeds and at predetermined points are beginning to provide answers to some of the previously unanswered Collision [Music] questions but the most important question has to do with human safety in a collision what happens to the occupants of the car when the experiments were begun this in itself posed a serious problem who would the occupants be here they are anthropometric [Music] dummies they're more practical than real people for this job because we can insert instruments in their heads chests hips and thighs to learn exactly what stresses strains and forces they will face in the secondary Collision the Collision inside the car where dummies are damaged and human motorists injured or killed the only effective means of ensuring that the motorist Forward Motion is [ __ ] is the safety seat belt or shoulder harness everyone will agree that good brakes are a necessity for any car safety seat belts and shoulder harnesses are really brakes for the Riders but motorists who are otherwise careful often neglect something important the children to find out what happens to unrestrained Children during collisions lifelike dolls just about the size and weight of three-year-olds are included as [Music] passengers other dolls simulating babies will also ride during various phases of the [Music] tests now everything is in Readiness and what you're about to see will be a unique experience in these experiments you will see deliberate accidents exactly as they take [Music] place 20 M an hour is considered a very moderate speed but here's what happens when two cars meet at 20 mph [Applause] in slow motion the adults with belts or harness reveal by their motions that strong forces are at work here while the child with no restraint is thrown forward by the impact and may be very seriously injured at 30 m hour you'd still consider yourself to be driving at a moderate speed but not through a blind intersection even though you have the right of way [Music] in slow motion photography the impact situation seems to last minutes instead of a second or less the fleeing instant during which most of the damage is [Music] done in all of the low-p speed crashes the babies would have been injured to some extent and in some instances injuries would probably have been critical the unrestrained child's injuries in the words of the technical report were indicated as being critical to fatal for the little girls it could have been the Prelude to Long weeks in the hospital or perhaps their last ride forever we've been talking about accidents occurring at what we might consider moderate speeds in today's driving even 40 mph may see moderate but a speed of 40 m hour through Street intersections indicates a reckless disregard for safety and human life you cannot control the speed or the actions of the other driver and he may run that stoplight or stop sign at 40 mph you're traveling at 59 ft a second and if suddenly you have only the stationary windshield or some other part of the car's interior to stop you the inside Collision could easily be [Music] disastrous equally disastrous would be a collision with the pavement if you were thrown out of the [Music] car in the 40 mph EXP experiment no seat belts were used and this shows what happens when your car is stopped by a collision and you keep going [Music] at the conclusion of each experimental impact the long careful work of data analysis begins a medical doctor makes an anatomical diagnosis of the damage to each dummy for its suggested relation to human injury patterns damage to the adult dummies unemotionally translates into scientific data but Betsy is more of a poignant reminder that it's always particularly distressing whenever young riters become traffic statistics at the test sites notes are made and photographs taken of every detail including skid marks and even the minor debris of the carefully planned Collision side impact collisions sudden and unplanned can happen at any intersection they're among the most common types of accidents and cause serious injury and death even when they happen at what we consider moderate speeds most of us live in areas where there are corners and cross streets or Crossroads and the largest percentage of all automobile accidents happen within 10 m of home it's the same route we travel every day to work to school to Market sometimes we cover the ground several times a day we're so used to it that we become inattentive we don't concentrate the way we should and even though we never go over 25 miles an hour we're in particular danger at the corner in urban areas there are about 10 blocks to the mile at the end of each block is an intersection it could happen here what's the other driver going to do it doesn't pay to take him for granted [Music] we know from the lessons of the side impact experiments that the one factor which can minimize or prevent injury if we do become involved in a collision is the safety belt you could wear this precautionary device in all your driving for years and never need it they then in one Split Second it could save your life or prevent horrible injury your disfigurement but the most infallible safety Factor can't be built into the car unfortunately it cannot be purchased as an accessory anywhere because the most infallible safety factor is you yourself when you devote all of your attention to being a really skilled and careful driver on the streets and at the intersections around home or out on the open highway or the Super [Music] Highway whenever your car is in motion and control of the driving situation is in your hands he [Music]

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