“Signal 30” was released in 1959 and was produced and directed by Richard Wayman. It is an educational documentary short produced by the Ohio State Highway Patrol and in some ways propaganda. The film was narrated by Wayne Byers. The 28 minute short was a safety film that was distributed to schools all over the United States. The purpose was to educate young people about the possible tragic results for not obeying traffic laws. It is probably the most notorious road safety film ever made. It is credited as the first of the “Driver’s ED” scare films. Other films were released by various other agencies that were similar in nature.
The film features graphic pictures and footage of the results of actual fatal accidents. The narration describes what law was broken and how each accident happened. The film covers infractions such as speeding, going through stop signs, not staying in the proper lane and ignoring railroad crossing signs. In essence, breaking any traffic law could result in death.
Footage of dead people covered in blood as well as charred bodies of those that burned in fatal accidents are shown. Close-ups of people crushed by twisted metal and wrapped around steering wheels or pinned against trees are illustrated. Although the visuals of victims aren’t as impressive as what you can see in the latest blockbusters they are indeed real people and they really are dead. It may not be the grossest film ever but for the sixties it did the job.
The film was mostly shown to high school kids who were enrolled in driver’s education classes, but some schools showed it to all their junior and senior students and some showed it to younger students. The intention was to scare kids straight. Anyone who was a high school student in the sixties has probably seen it. Whether or not it did what it intended to do is questionable.
The term Signal 30 refers to the Ohio police traffic code that designates a traffic accident that has resulted in a death.