Wales produces exceptionally graphic, educational film about the dangers of texting while driving
By Laura June 
posted August 16th 2009 7:59PM
posted August 16th 2009 7:59PM
[Via Gizmodo]
posted August 16th 2009 7:59PM
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For the American version I propose a few changes.
The driver is male, reading a prayer on his phone, girlfriend on the seat next to him. He has no seatbelt on, she has, and they drive a big American car of the 80s (no need to smash those 70s classics). The car they hit is a new, small Renault. Texter and girlfriend die instantly in their totally smashed up death trap, those in the Renault open their doors themselves, get out of the car, and feel a bit dizzy.
About 40 seconds in I was completely expecting another car to hit.
AMERICA....?
THIS
IS
MADNESS!
Well clearly they were all driving on the wrong side of the road...amiryte ;D
27secs : How did the other car end up on the other wrong side of the road too?
Also, the mondeo came off a lot better - do we need better safety regulations for small cars?
Either way, text&drive, well you've got whats coming to you. If your driver is texting while driving, its probably worth removing the phone from them.
WOW...I think alot of teenagers should watch that...I think the video was a little drastic but gets the point across.
I don't think it was drastic enough.
For those of you who believe this does not AFFECT (different from EFFECT - look it up please), you're f'ing idiots... Seriously, no joke, no haha, no chuckle in the back of my mind.
Living in the Los Angeles area (not to say it's the worst, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is) you tend to see SOOOOO many a-holes looking down at their phones, texting, as opposed to watching the road AND THE OTHER DRIVERS AROUND THEM (and by around I don't mean the passenger[s] playing a GT or some other driving game on his phone/psp/or other personal gaming device next to you)... WHY DO THESE RETA... excuse me... socially under developed individuals fail to realize the disrespect they impose on the world they make a choice to continue to live in? Why is it, once people enter their vehicles, fail to realize the world doesn't end at their bumpers, but in fact continues way beyond the limits they can see just outside of their own bubbles? BTW, explaining that a text message (especially while driving) is much faster than say a phone conversation, in most cases is just BS. Here's how it often transpires... Person A - Write text, Send - Person B - Receive, wait to read it, scroll through list, choose text, read text, choose to respond to text, Write Text, send text - then Person A receives Person B's response and the dialog may or may not continue at this point (not to say there is always a response to Person A's original text, but more often than not their is a reply)... So instead of taking the 30sec to 1 minute to call Person B, Person A has decided to take the minimum of 2min+ approach with the BS notion it actually takes less time... Why? Because you couldn't get off the phone? I'd take a 1-handed driver over a no-eyed driver at just about any time.
Texting while driving affectively renders you as blind as if you were sneezing for the approximate amount of time it takes you to stop texting. It takes you approximately 0.5 seconds to sneeze, so at the very minimum you've got your eyes close for that period of time. That's approximately 44 feet (nearly 13.5 meters) that you cannot see the road (oh, and good luck trying to keep your eyes open when you sneeze, it's not a very pleasant experience). Assuming most text's take much longer than 0.5 sec, let's assume the very minimum time it takes to text someone is about 30 seconds... So 60x44= 2,640 feet... That's 1/2 a mile that you weren't paying attention to the road, putting everyone's lives (in the areas you CHOOSE TO DRIVE while texting) in jeopardy...
plain and simple, no f'ing joking about it.... IF YOU WANT TO JOKE ABOUT THE FACT THAT PEOPLE'S SAFETY IS AT RISK, go fu*k yourself... People are being seriously injured and/or dying everyday because of this. Wouldn't it be nice if people could actually discuss the matter, try to find a REAL solution to the problem, without making a mockery of what people are attempting to accomplish?
The baby is what freaks me out the most...
The thing is, Honestly, on Britains roads, How many times do you see stupid girls driving old Ka's whilst on the phone? It's very common
Holy shit
Why was the third car involved (hit them in the side) travelling on the wrong side of the road?
Ah, I get it, you want gore and not realism, sorry that I spoiled your grossness party, didn't realize, although this video would of course naturally attract certain types so I should have known, anyway I'm sorry for almost spoiling it.
Did anyone else crack up when they used that generic squashing sound when the cars crashed?
It's the same reason that people will drive into the rear of a car on the shoulder of the highway. They become fixated by something and drive right into it.
Ever wonder why when you were riding a bicycle and saw a rock or something. Oh look, rock, gotta go around it and then rode over it. You stare at something, you will drive into it. You need to look away or for an alternate path not to hit it.
I would have loved too see her texting on that final shot on the heli at the end.
Bulgarian Airbags ftw
Where did they get the self regenerating glass?! Do want.
OK, that's just fail– apparently, some genius on Youtube flagged the video as "inappropriate for those under 18." ...I thought the whole point of this video was for TEEN DRIVERS to see this?
That probably would have worked out a bit better if they were driving that POS car. Come on it dident even have side curtain aribags.
I meant werent
Unlike spoilt american kids, we don't all get BMWs on our 16th birthdays on MTV.
Given that this is marketed at British teens who generally don't have new cars, I think its pretty damn appropriate that its a Ford Ka.
I coined a term for this back when I was in college (1999 or so).
"Carload of victims"
A group of teenage girls in a motor vehicle, none of whom are paying any attention to the road.
i find getting a hummer to be much more distracting
Those are some shitty friends for making her drive and text!!! STUPID!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjGfv2AeUss&feature=player_embedded
No wonder they crashed, driving at the wrong side of the road :).
I do not feel sorry if i saw a couple of texting idiots, male or female, crash into a wall.
I'd be pissed if they'd hit someone. And if theyre dead, too bad you asked for it.
If you do dumb shit like that get whats coming and i'll let you burn while i drive by laughing.
It's a foolish daughter.
We must live carefully.
No! The girl in the middle was way too hot to die! Why? Whyyyyyyyy? Chubby McHamface and Freckles Pointyface were acceptable losses. But not the hot chick!
Ok, after watching that through a second time, I take that back. Shees not thoht attrohctive ofter oll.
Sad part is 80% of people in L.A do this, myself included.
I only do it at stop lights, but I have friends who do it while driving with both hands.
It's already illegal in CA to call or text while driving, yet it doesn't stop anyone...as you've proven in your statement. How many people do you see now driving with their speakerphone on their shoulder or something? Some of these people look more dangerous than if they just had the phone up to their ear. Thankfully I have bluetooth integrated in my car now, but every once in a while I reply to a text or two while sitting at a light (which is illegal - and I believe shouldn't be - it would get more people waiting until the next light).
I agree this video is very eye opening but knowing people don't care about the law I'm not sure I'd trade more freedoms for it. Well, at least here in CA we know it's not about safety as much as the cash flow to our bankrupt state. Every little bit counts to these bureaucrats and using fear to extract more taxes and fines has proven very successful to them.
Sorry for spinning it politically, but like I said, being a Californian I can't help but think about more govt ways to extract money from our wallets through fear.
I don't know of anyone who has ever been cited for "texting while driving" in CA.
Do cops even give a shit?
I was actually talking to my wife on the phone when she rolled through a checkpoint.
She said "Hold on", the cop asked her to roll down her window and I hear him say "You know you're not supposed to do that?".
My wife responds, "Sorry" and the cop waives her through as she continues her conversation with me.
Does anyone in CA know first person that this citation has ever even been enforced?
He's a Spartan. What do you expect from a Michigan State "graduate?"
hope the sequel doesn't show the heli pilots texting.
LOL! My friend is heli-pilot. She says she watches soap operas while piloting.
So, I've honked at drivers reading or texting on the highway. now I'm wondering whether this was a bad idea or not.
those chav whores should have been decapitated .lost some limbs.
I want to see the Tim Burton version.
I am an avid motorcycle rider, and the other day I passed someone on a sport bike texting at 65MPH. Not only is that talent, but complete lack of common sense. He was wearing a helmet though. Darwin award!
It just sucks cause stuff like this needs to happen to teach some people a lesson. Like riding a motorcycle or ATV without a helmet.
I think this video focuses too much on text messaging. It is clear to me that the young lady got in an accident because she is a woman. Duh!
I get that there are certain aspects of this that need to be made fun of, but seriously, this was not funny. And it's not just texting while driving that need to be addressed. My wife was going 75mph on the freeway last saturday with me in the passenger seat and out 2 year old daughter in the back. I ask her not to do that while driving and she snaps back at me as if she's some kind of "God among drivers" who will never crash her car. So I just sat there and closed my eyes while my blood pressure went through the roof. Hopefully after I show her this video she will have a little wake-up call.
The little girl in that ad is pretty heart-wrenching if you're a parent. Not to mention the dead baby.
Somehow forgot to mention, she was driving 75MPH with me in the passenger seat, 2 year old in back, while putting her make-up on looking in the rear view mirror. Good Lord!
Here's the part where the girl tweets that she was just in an accident?
All I can say is thank god I got an iPhone... Now it's totally impossible to text while I'm driving, so the temptation is no longer there.
Hi,
glad most of you enjoyed the clip, there is more to come...the whole film is 30 mins long, during this time you actually get to know the characters themselves and their families.
Working on this film was one of the best experience's I have had and it was very emotional. There is a huge amount of young people who die on the roads whilst texting. We created this to show to young people in schools and other youth organisations all over the UK. It has already had a large effect on many of the young people who have seen it.
The cars used in this clip were only going 40 miles an hour when filmed......think of the damage it could have done if they were going 70 miles and hour.
:(
EXCELLENT! I wish every teenager would see this. It might save lives.
What sort of alien language were they all speaking?
Anyone recognize the Melon squishing sound from hl2, they TOTALLY STOLE THAT SOUNDBYTE. That is not fair use either.
Trust good ol' newport to show this...
I live there and its more like knives and guns rather than mobile phones that kill people here...
I just got my license four days ago... I've only texted while driving once, but that is MORE then enough to stop me from ever doing it again.
Agreed with a lot of you, this should be mandatory to watch in drivers ed.
Also, I'm going to have nightmares tonight, it being nearly 4 AM already.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsIuqImI9QU
similar story that my friends in HS did