This 1978 color educational film represents the brutal sequel to the still-infamous 1964 driver’s ed scare film produced by the California Highway Patrol Office of Public Affairs.
The film is simply a public service announcement about safe driving and against drunk driving, but it contains quite a bit of memorable gore — intended to leave an impression on young drivers. In general, the “Red Asphalt” series of films is known for its graphic depictions of real car accident fatalities, and this film contains numerous shots of horribly injured bodies. Viewer discretion is advised (TRT: 14:16).
Opening titles. Electronic music with the logo of the California Highway Patrol (0:08). A man with a mustache behind the wheel of an automobile drives while narrating: “The number one killer of young people is traffic accidents.” Footage of an accident under investigation. A body is pulled from the wreckage (0:19). Blood fills the gutter of a roadway, leading to a human hand. Titles: “Red Asphalt II”. A montage of bodies on stretchers being wheeled and carried into ambulances. Towed wrecks, firemen, bandaged heads, desperate, bloodied faces (1:00). A highway patrolman peers through a shattered windshield (1:42). Titles: “This film is designed to educate through reality. These are actual accidents… While there is no intent to create unpleasant reactions among viewers, the harshness of some scenes may prove distasteful to some” (2:08). A CHP officer hangs up his uniform in a locker room and gives an interview over footage of a crying baby in a car seat (2:41). The lead narrator discusses seat belts over footage of a gruesome wreck (3:16). A smashed engine in a jumble. An ambulance. Crowbars pry open doors. Accident survivors covered in blood (4:05). A third officer who speaks while driving advises against changing a tire by the side of a highway and warns of drunk drivers who hone in on flashing hazard lights (4:45). A highway patrol vehicle with a compacted front end. Totaled CHP cars. A man drips blood from his forehead (5:34). A CHP officer in a diner booth. A Hartson’s ambulance. An injured man has his head bandaged. A damaged motorcycle (6:05). Concerned bystanders. A young boy. A damaged child’s big wheel (6:48). A bicycle accident. An injured pair of motorcyclists. A twisted Yamaha. Exposed bone (7:17). An African American CHP officer enters a patrol vehicle at a service station. In the trunk, a first aid kit, a fire extinguisher, flares, and jumper cables (8:18). An older white officer driving at night. Cars with hoods flipped open into windshields in a multi-vehicle pileup (9:27). Burned bodies and a badly injured man with a breathing tube (9:53). An injured child. A woman with damaged teeth (10:17). A white man with sideburns reluctantly signs a ticket. A woman police officer thinks of tickets as a preventative measure (10:48). Voice over from an accident victim over a flipped car with bodies still inside. A dead woman in a pink bikini streams blood (11:24). A deformed steering wheel and crushed Coors beer cans on the passenger’s side. A mangled body frozen in an expression of horror (12:14). A sign at a morgue: “Please Put Patients In Feet First.” Slow zoom on the black officer. A dead body’s POV being slid into a drawer at the morgue (12:58). End credits. Photography by Lt. Glen Kirkpatrick, Sgt. Jim Elliot, Russell Turner, KCRA-TV Sacramento, KFMB-TV San Diego. Writing and directing by Kent Milton, Bill Masters, and Russell Turner. Animated logo: “A production of Audio-Visual Services” (13:26).
Three further installments of the Red Asphalt series were produced, with shocking sequels issued in 1989, 1998, and 2006. More than 38,000 people die each year in car crashes on United States roadways. An additional 4.4 million are injured, requiring hospitalization.
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