City of Glasgow

Experience Glasgow as you’ve never seen it before, in this wonderful early 1950s sponsored road safety film with bustling city streets, vintage cars and a startling warning.

Experience the bustle of the Glasgow streets in this wonderful early 1950s sponsored film, reminiscent of war time propaganda, driving home the road safety message to a cinema audience. In Glasgow city centre, jammed with cars, people, buses and trams, a man leaves his work as usual, only to be tragically knocked over by a car. He is the breadwinner of the family, and his wife and two children wait patiently at home for him…what will they do now?? Just remember, it could be YOU!!

The rapid growth of car ownership in Britain in the 1950s led to a surge in road traffic accidents, prompting the launch of road safety campaigns to increase public awareness. Over 3,000 people were killed or injured every year on the streets of Glasgow at the time the film was made. In spite of the continuing increase in car ownership, the road casualty total for Glasgow fell to become the lowest on record, with 11 people killed on Glasgow's roads and 1,665 injured in 2010. This film was sponsored by the City of Glasgow Road Safety Committee, and was probably intended for a cinema audience. No doubt viewers thought twice before crossing the busy streets on leaving the theatre; the film may have even saved a life.