I was admiring the vintage Holden in the opening shot - till it was sent rolling off the road to its destruction. Of course as soon as I saw this start to happen, I knew it was being sacrificed as a old car of little value in 1973. I wasn't expecting the Falcon station wagon to actually impact the tree in the next shot, though. All the other crashes in these movies are just suggested by cars just barely bumping each other while someone tosses a handful of broken headlight or taillight pieces into the shot from off-camera.

I fell asleep at the wheel when I was just a teen driver (probably around 19) and I woke up to the sound of my vehicle becoming imbedded into the side of a truck. If that wasn't enough about a year later I fell asleep at the wheel a second time and woke up in a field with my car at a dead stop still running without a scratch or a dent. That is one thing they don't talk about here... working the dreaded night shift!! After the second near miss I switched to daylight hours :-)

Thanks for letting us know William. We have just stated uploading a new series on motor cycles which Peter also narrated.

These are my favourite videos you post. Whatever driving safety tips you can find, we'd love to see them.

Great videos many thanks for sharing

Congratulations Mike. Remember you are always learning on the roads so don't switch off now. Everyday driving is where the real test begins. If you are thinking of taking up motor cycling too you might want to see our new upload Introduction To Motorcycling episode 1. Also narrated by Peter Gwynne.

I don't know if you have looked through much of our channel yet but there are a few music related films on here. Also have a look at our other NFSA Channel (featured on our channel page) for more of that kind of thing. We don't always have the rights for a lot of music content so it's difficult to show. Thanks for your interest.

Australia adopted the metric system starting in 1970 and successfully implemented it in pretty much every area of life. The requirement for road signs and speedometers to be in km/h came into effect in mid-1974. Dual speedometers were fitted in new cars starting about one year before then, and conversion kits were available. Since this film was made in 1973, the cars would still have almost all had miles on the speedo unless they were very new.

The narrator is Peter Gwynne. A well known actor in Australian film and television. Originally from New Zealand. Unfortunately Peter died in November 2011. Much of his work is preserved here at the NFSA.

You're welcome we are glad they are helping you be safer on the roads no matter where they are. Two more episodes to go so please keep an eye out. Happy driving.

Back in the day you drove home drunk, because you was to drunk to walk.

Those old wooden guide posts were a severe road hazard - many a death resulted from collisions involving them.

Having combined miles km signage and displays is madness. If tired too easy to mistake 100miles reading for 100km, way too fast for safety.

Ah! Ok. I've never heard of Peter Gwynne, except through these videos.

Seeing the destruction of the old Humpy and Falcon was hilarious, I just hope the drivers were ok.

I agree. I've heard of more accidents, and some times deaths happen as a result of people either talking on their cellphone (mobile phone) or texting when they really should be paying attention to their driving.

From my experiences working in the insurance industry things haven't changed...people still don't drive to the conditions on the road, drugs and alcohol still affect many drivers but nowadays you can also add the risk of high powered cars being driven in an unsafe manner, mobile phone use and distractions such as GPS navigators, iPod connections among others

Important things to consider when driving a car. If you're tired, pull over to the side of the road and sleep for 1/2 hr to an hour before driving. Don't drink alcohol before you drive. Don't take drugs, even prescription drugs. You never know how they'll impair your ability to control your vehicle. And last, but certainly not least, maintain your car. If you detect a problem or an unusual noise or road behaviour, have it looked at and taken care of before it gets worse.

Exactly what I meant. The only countries that I know of that use both MPH and km/h for the car's speedometer are the USA and Great Britain.

Only two more in this series. Plenty more driving tips to come though.

You mean once metrication was complete? I don't know for sure, but I imagine that it wasn't deemed necessary to have it in mph as well.

Restlessness is a sign of fatigue.

Another contributor to road accidents is setting off on a journey without having a meal before leaving.

Who is the narrator? I've heard that voice many times over the years.

I appreciate the employment sharing of these fine actors (1.56 & 2.25, 5.46. 3.54 & 4.27 unknown) in educational films & the erotic/porn industry of this era. Congrats to the agents and union of the time.

Why didn't they keep the dual display speedometer, showing the speed in both Miles Per Hr (MPH) and kilometres per hr (km/h)?

Although so far I've never had a single vehicle accident (knock on wood), I've heard of accidents involving one car.

What I don't understand is why they changed the speedometer of the cars from Miles Per Hour (MPH) to Kilometres Per Hour (km/h). In places like England and the USA, car velocity is measured in Miles, while in Canada and most other places in the world measure the speed in kilometres. Why is that?

I think I should get my CVs fixed now...

bad road surfaces pot holes bad road maintenance has a lot to do with it not always the drives fault

2013 update: Add talking / texting on mobile phones to that list of possible reasons for the single car crash (assuming they don't take out any other cars with their ignorance and stupidity).

The driver at 5.25 fumbling with the keys trying to get into the car is not literally drunk, is he? There would have been drink driving laws even back then.

Who is the narrator in these videos? And is he still alive today?

Ah - the good old days, cars were much better

Godsh, they actually crashed the car with driver inside ???

No CGI in the 70's lol just well planned crashes. The speeds of the vehicles were most likely that enough to illustrate the crash but not enough to injure the stunt driver

Aussies are just naturally unsteady because they are always driving upside down.

Rolled the FJ ,shame.