This is a road safety film set made in cooperation with the West Riding Constabulary. It highlights the types of common mistakes made by drivers and pedestrians, and it emphasizes the need for safety on the road. Title-The W.R.C Film Unit presents Title-It Happened Today. Title-Produced in the interests of Road Safety by the West Riding Constabulary. Title-Commentary by Patrick Holt by permission of the L. Arthur Rank Organisation Ltd. Title-Sound recording by Leevers Rich and Co. Limited....

This is a road safety film set made in cooperation with the West Riding Constabulary. It highlights the types of common mistakes made by drivers and pedestrians, and it emphasizes the need for safety on the road. Title-The W.R.C Film Unit presents Title-It Happened Today. Title-Produced in the interests of Road Safety by the West Riding Constabulary. Title-Commentary by Patrick Holt by permission of the L. Arthur Rank Organisation Ltd. Title-Sound recording by Leevers Rich and Co. Limited. The film opens with stills of crashed cars on streets and along the sides of the country roads. The voice over says that sometimes accidents occur due to the smallest of mistakes. There is a shot of a truck on a busy road and then there are shots taken from the point of view of the camera which goes along the trams tracks behind the traffic. In the next section the voice over says that silly mistakes can be dangerous and then it shows someone on a street in a city centre and also on a country road, almost being run into by a car. The voice over also mentions that the police force is around to try to prevent accidents from happening. There is a brief shot of two police officers in a patrol car; one of the officers is talking into a megaphone. Next the voice over says that we should take a look at the common causes of many accidents and a few police officers gather outside station to show us . The police officers; by a camera effect, change from their uniforms into everyday clothes and the patrol car becomes an everyday car. In the first of the examples one of the men goes into a newsagent to buy a paper and proceeds to walk down the road while reading it. He is not looking where he is going so when a car comes along the road, the man steps out without looking. The car swerves and the voiceover shouts a warning and says to put the paper away. Four men meet on the street for a chat and one of them walks out onto the road without looking. There are some close-up shots of the cars that almost crashed into him. Following this are several linked shots of a man trying to cross a road with quite a few cars passing up and down the road. The voiceover comments on when it is or isn't time to cross. In another example, a woman with pram stops to talk to man on the street. They are just out of view of the road, as they are standing behind a parked truck. As she goes to cross the road she steps out in front of a car and it has to jam on the breaks; it tips the pram over onto the ground. Another woman with shopping packages walks along path and goes to cross road without looking first; she walks out in front of a car. The car beeps its horn and she slips and drops everything. The unsympathetic voice over says that she should have looked before she crossed. A man and woman with a baby in a pram stop on the path to talk to some people. The pedestrians walking along the path behind them have to step onto road to pass them, which in turn makes a bike swerve into path of car on the road. Following this scene, a man leaves a shop and walks down the street. Another man is on a bike cycling towards the camera; a car is on the road behind him. The man who is walking waves to his friend on the bike who in turn cycles towards him; the car swerves and has to break. The man on the bike is cycling along another road and doesn't notice the `halt' sign indicating a dangerous junction. He cycles straight across and almost crashes into an oncoming car. The voiceover says that it's lucky for him that the car had good breaks. Another cyclist holds onto the back of a lorry as he cycles along a road. When the lorry turns left the cyclist continues on straight and wobbles into the incoming traffic. The voiceover says that it's more dangerous than it looks to hold onto moving vehicles and it's illegal to do it. In another scene, a man leaves a shop with several large packages; he tries to cycle his bike while holding onto them all. A car is driving slowly behind the bike as it wobbles around the road. The car comes a bit too close and the bike swerves in front of the car. Then there are shots of another man on a bike carrying a long roll of lino. He also wobbles and the same thing happens; he falls off the bike in front of a moving car. Two women and a man cycle in a row across the road blocking the road for a car which is driving behind them. The car beeps its horn behind them and the voiceover says that you should never cycle more than two abreast. A man cycles very closely behind a moving van, the van stops and he crashes head first into the back window. Following this a car drives along a quiet road and parks just where he stops. Two bikes come along beside it and at the same time the driver of the car opens his door without looking and the cyclist crashes into it and is hurt. People help him up. Another car comes to a dangerous junction with a `halt' sign. The driver doesn't slow down and almost crashes into a car which is already on the main road. There is a shot of a pedestrian crossing and the voiceover says that these are very important to pedestrians. Then there is a shot of a man who drives his car along the road and parks on the pedestrian crossing. In another scene an old man comes out of a shop and walks along path to the pedestrian crossing. He looks left and right and the voiceover congratulates him on using his kerb code. The man starts to cross the road but not quickly enough for the car that speeds towards him. He runs the rest of the way across and falls on the ground. In another example a man comes out of a phone box and gets into his car which is parked on the side of the road. The voice over says that the Highway Code is very important and wonders if this man will pay heed to it. The man makes a right-hand signal with his arm and moves off and the voiceover comments on that. Suddenly the car is reversed back out of the smaller road onto the main road almost crashes into another car. A car drives along a country road; there are other cars on the other side of the road. The first car cuts a corner in front of the cars and almost crashes into them. Two cars drive along a country road; one wants to overtake the other car. The other driver doesn't like that and speeds up too. A car is coming in the opposite direction and has to break so as not to hit one of the others cars, who also breaks. A man loads his van with sacks; he has just placed them on the roof. As he drives along the road they fall off, which according to the voiceover could have been very dangerous. This is followed by more cars passing out on a corner and a sports car doesn't give way to an over taking car. A pedestrian who is standing on the side of the road talking to his friends is knocked down. In the final scene, the police officers arrive back outside the police station and with the camera effects, turn back into policemen in their uniforms. The voiceover says thanks very much and cheerio. There is a shot from the road looking onto the front of the police car as it drives along a road. Title-The End