Film aimed to make sure everyone Rode Safely...
Pete Kelly takes a close look at a brilliant motorcycle safety film produced by the late Victor Horsman of Liverpool, which gives an absorbing record of motorcycling more than 65 years ago. Rode Safely encapsulates a long-lost world, but by the miracle of YouTube it is still available for all to see.
Imagine being a motorcyclist in the early to mid-1950s. There were no motorways, main roads were mostly single-carriageway, and town and city streets often consisted of hard stone setts or wood block surfaces that became seriously slippery in the wet, with metal studs, tram lines and steaming droppings from the ample horse traffic that still abounded adding their own particular challenges.
Many areas, particularly those dating back to Victorian and Edwardian times, were still lit by gas lights, and, as the nights grew longer, the sight of the ‘leeries’ (a nickname from Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1885 poem The Lamplighter) lighting them up, then turning them off at dawn, remained commonplace.
Thick fog at certain times of the year could be guaranteed. These ‘pea-soupers’ reduced visibility to nil and trapped every pollutant known to man. Pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists alike had to cover their mouths and noses with scarves or large handkerchiefs to minimise serious respiratory problems which, in the case of the London infamous ‘smogs,’ cost thousands of lives. To prove their effectiveness, such makeshift ‘masks’ would become black with trapped particulants within minutes!
Today’s motorcyclists, despite the handling, speed and braking efficiency of their machines, are allowed by law to ride at only 60mph along single-carriageway roads, yet a helmetless rider of the 1950s could tear along the ill-lit, narrow and twisting derestricted roads at any speed he liked.
Tyres were often ridden until they were flat and bald, sometimes to the point of the canvas showing through. Compulsory vehicle testing was still some years away, and, in any case, was first confined to vehicles that were 10 years old or more. By April 1967, this had been progressively reduced to three years.
Many cars didn’t have flashing indicators, let alone motorcycles! Instead, the novice rider had to learn a plethora of hand signals – useless in the pitch dark unless reflective gauntlets were worn – and only a tiny fraction of them bothered to fit mirrors. Electric starters were virtually unknown, so a precise kick-starting drill had to be followed. In those days, many four-wheeled vehicles also had to be handcranked into life!
It was against this backdrop that Liverpool motorcycle dealer Victor Horsman got together a willing band of experienced riders to make a 40-minute black and white film entitled Rode Safely, which was released in 1955. Filmed entirely on the roads around that city, and with much of the safety guidance based upon The Highway Code that was essential reading for all who took their rudimentary (by today’s standards) motorcycle test, the film can still be viewed on YouTube, and has become a classic record of its time.
Produced and narrated by Victor Horsman, and directed by Edwin Lambert, it helped novice riders to become familiar with their motorcycles and then handle them safely on the roads. The sheer variety of period bikes, cars, vans, lorries and buses caught up in the action will also make it absorbing viewing for the vintage transport enthusiast. Released during National Service days, Rode Safely would also have been used by the RAF and Army to assist their training programmes for professional Service riders.
The film begins with a shot of a small Horsman’s Morris service van, its cab roof bearing a Victor Horsman Ltd display board showing a crouched rider on a racing machine, driving through Liverpool with the Liver Building in the background.
The narrative begins: “We’ve all seen films or posters or propaganda of various kinds about this business of road safety, and we’ve heard it suggested, usually quite wrongly, that a lot of this propaganda is put out by ministries or officials who have never ridden a motorcycle in their lives. So we’d like to emphasise right at the start that this is a film about motorcycling that’s made entirely by motorcyclists, written and produced by motorcyclists and acted entirely by motorcyclists, who you’ll see in a moment arriving for their daily work as motorcycle repairers, testers, salesmen and the like.”
These included Nobby Clark (a motorcycle club official); Bill Quinn (TT replica winner, Brooklands record holder, seasoned veteran and everyday rider for more than 30 years); Derek Wilson (twice a Gold Medal winner in the International Six Days Trial); Keith Walker (trials rider and short circuit racer) and Ken Morris (Isle of Man TT rider), all attired in the practical everyday riding gear of the time, such as long warm riding coats, gauntlets and ‘pudding basin’ helmets.
Lashings of Scouse humour comes out in much of the filming, and the sporting heroes have a quiet chuckle as a would-be Geoff Duke runs alongside his old machine (complete with racing numbers) in the middle of town before swinging sideways on to the seat TT-style the moment the engine fires. Hands up, though, who hasn’t also given it a try!
More than 50 keen everyday motorcyclists, all fond of two-wheel sport in one form or another, also took part in the film, which features several carefully staged crashes, partly to help demonstrate certain points and partly to make it more interesting, but the narrator points out: “Don’t run away with the idea that motorcycling is a dangerous pastime.” As a pistol and a razor blade are shown, he adds: “There’s nothing dangerous about either of these. Any possible danger depends on the user.”
In the 1950s more pedestrians became road casualties than any other class of road user – not just because there were more of them, but because they were more vulnerable, and one staged accident shows a man taking something from a parked van, then walking from behind its open back door right into the path of a Ford Zephyr. The vehicle could just as easily have been a motorcycle.
“Pedal cyclists and motorcyclists are vulnerable too, so it’s up to them to take extra care to keep out of trouble, and we’re going to try to show you how, by demonstrating some of the things we’ve learned the hard way from actual experience. And remember that every single one of the incidents you’re going to see isn’t just a theoretical possibility. It’s something that’s actually happened to one of us or someone we know during long years of hard riding.”
First, though, the film looks at basic maintenance. When a front brake lever is applied, a badly frayed cable indicates that, unless it is replaced immediately, the next time the lever is applied in an emergency the cable will snap with disastrous results. The same applied to throttle cables, and members of the filming team could remember nasty experiences when the throttle had stuck open.
Another staged accident shows how a badly adjusted chain can cause a bad moment if it comes off and wraps itself around the back wheel. I can actually relate to this, for when I took my motorcycle test on a 150cc Excelsior Universal back in the early 1960s, exactly the same thing happened when I applied the puny brakes for an emergency stop on slippery stone setts. Either it helped with the retardation and the examiner was impressed by my control of a locked back wheel, or more likely he was fed up standing on the pavement being drenched and wanted a cup of tea, but he passed me all the same – and I did take more care of the adjustment after that!
Moving on to tyre pressures and condition, we’re shown a completely bald rear tyre, and another with a huge cut in its side. “Bald tyres like these encourage skidding and in any case cause frequent punctures,” goes the narrative, “and don’t ride a yard with a cut tyre.”
Today’s MoTs and stringent tread depth regulations make such tyre conditions almost unimaginable.
Advice on lighting is fairly rudimentary, focusing on dipped beam adjustment to ensure it doesn’t dazzle other road users, but later in the film some real hazards in pitch black conditions are shown, including an approaching vehicle with one of its headlamps out and an unexpected pedestrian in the middle of the road.
Motorcycle clothing has moved on in leaps and bounds since those days, but in 1955 the advice was to invest in hard-wearing, practical gear.
“No need to try to be glamorous like this,” goes the narrative as someone looking anything but dresses up in a short leather jacket with a white scarf and helmet, resembling something like an Italian racing driver from the 1930s!
“A good strong waterproof coat remains essential, preferably on the large side so as to tuck well in round the knees, and tough, sensible gloves – and it’s a good tip to sew on a scrap of wash leather for wiping rain off goggles.”
A rider wearing a pair of gauntlets treated liberally with a reflecting material demonstrates how easily his hand signals can then be seen in the headlights of a following vehicle.
“In really bad weather, waders help to keep the shoes and trousers clean and dry, and if you wear a scarf, tuck it well in. A loose scarf or a trailing belt can cause trouble if it catches in the chain. Another tip – a towel around the neck soaks up the rain, and if you’re caught with a thin coat, a thick wad of paper helps to keep out the wind.”
The clothing advice concludes with advice about choosing goggles with a wide field of vision and wearing a well-fitting helmet of the kind that would now be known as a pudding basin.
As a new rider struggles to get his machine started, the advice goes: “Don’t kick away like this. Get an expert to teach you the knack. First, see that the petrol’s turned on at the tap, and that it’s getting through to the carburettor by feeding the tickler. In the case of coil-ignition models, switch on, set the twistgrip slightly open and give a good swinging kick – but when the engine has started, don’t set off suddenly without warning or without looking. Look round and wait till it’s safe.”
As a frustrated rider is seen trying to push-start his machine, another staged accident, based on an incident when a motorcycle ran away with its pusher before mounting a pavement and crashing into the side of a shop, is used to advise against bump-starting unless the motorcycle has first been parked in a quiet spot.
The section on hand signals is both informative and highly amusing as the actors, followed by the filming vehicle, try to demonstrate as many common mistakes as possible. After the rider of a sidecar outfit executes a perfect right-hand signal, first looking behind to make sure it’s safe to turn, a young learner rider positioned on the extreme left of a road flaps his right hand vaguely before pulling right across without even a backward glance.
You wouldn’t think left-turn signals would have demanded a lot of skill, but after the rider of a large solo machine makes his intention crystal clear, the same young lad, this time in the middle of the road, flaps his right hand in something resembling a car driver’s sloppy leftturn hand signal before shooting left, once again without checking behind.
One frequently used signal indicated that a rider or driver was ready to be overtaken and, after an expert demonstrates it perfectly, once again the novice manages just the same lazy flap. Another important signal was “I’m about to slow down or stop”, indicated by a firm but steady up-and-down arm movement, but the film advises riders to use it sparingly, such as when giving warning of an unexpected obstacle ahead or when intending to stop at a pedestrian crossing. When simply pulling into a kerb, though, a “please overtake” signal was much more useful.
The novice rider’s animated slowing-down signal looks more as if he’s telling the drivers behind him to slow down, and here the narrative explains that not a single signal in The Highway Code was an instruction to anyone else, but merely a warning of the rider’s own intentions.
As for passengers, to avoid any confusion they’re warned to keep their arms to themselves and leave all signals to the rider.
“At crossroads or road intersections of any kind,” continues the narrative as another staged incident is shown, “the seasoned rider is always on his guard, but it’s not only the major junctions that call for care. Minor crossings like these, where there’s nothing to indicate which is the major road, are often more dangerous, and it’s worth noting that at such places the seasoned racing man is noticeably slower than the novice.”
As a small van emerges from a road joining at an oblique angle from the right, riders are warned to make allowance for the fact that the driver of a closed van can’t always see them, as they are on his blind side.
“And don’t be encouraged to cross just because a passer-by waves you on. Always be cautious about signals given by pedestrians. They can’t be relied on, and in these cases, they invariably nip it if there’s an accident. Commonly used in the 1950s, the old-fashioned term “nip it” seems to have been replaced entirely by “leg it” or “hop it” these days! “Hey, you!” shouts the narrator as the shiftylooking character runs away – and when the camera reels him back in again, he gives an innocent “What? Me?” gesture.
When riding along a street with many side turnings and no clear rights of way, riders are advised to watch the pedestrians on the side road. If they remain on the pavements, something will be about to emerge, but if they’re walking across, all will be fine.
The narrative goes on: “A Halt sign means halt. The law says you must come to a complete and absolute stop just before the line, and that’s exactly what the wise rider does even when it seems unnecessary.” Another staged accident shows that just slowing down isn’t enough, as a rider almost gets clobbered by a van coming from his left.
On YouTube, Rode Safely is shown in two parts, the second beginning with some points about overtaking. “You can always pick out the expert rider by the smooth, easy and polished way in which he overtakes slower vehicles, without the least inconvenience to them, to approaching traffic or to anyone behind,” continues the narrator. “He waits for the right moment, glances behind, gives a warning, overtakes quickly and gets back to his own side.”
A seasoned rider is seen positioning his machine to get a better view of the road ahead, hanging back so that he can see easily. Sometimes he looks past the left side of the vehicle in front, and sometimes past the right, and in both cases he becomes aware that a bus is likely to pull out to pass a parked car. If the vehicle in front is a saloon car, he can see through its windows.
Another sequence shows a novice following so closely behind a large vehicle that he can’t possibly see the road ahead without first pulling out – always a risky manoeuvre. When a child suddenly runs out after a ball, the vehicle in front brakes hard without warning, which could end in disaster for the inexperienced tail-gating rider.
Closely following the filming sequence, the narrator points out where not to overtake. On a blind bend, the brow of a hill, a humpback bridge, the approach to a pedestrian crossing, or anywhere at all unless the rider can be perfectly sure of a clear road. Although the advice is to get back to one’s own side of the road as soon as possible after overtaking, another short slowmotion sequence shows a novice rider cutting in far too closely.
More well-staged scenes show how a rider can sometimes get a warning of what might be about to happen from vehicles in front. In the days when exhaust gases were nothing like as clean as they are today, a sudden emission of exhaust smoke indicated that the engine of a stationary car has started. A driver might make a movement to open his door, and feet seen underneath a lorry gave warning that someone might be about to step out from behind.
On the subject of taking a passenger, insurance records showed that in 1955 the sidecar outfit was the safest of all road vehicles, but even the knights of the road who rode them (I hate the word ‘drove’ when it comes to outfits, by the way) there were a few points to remember. While most sidecars were fitted securely and properly lined up, others were in terrible alignment, as another short following sequence shows.
“When cornering,” the narrative continues, “remember that if you tackle a left-hand bend too quickly with a light sidecar, the sidecar wheel may lift, so slow down well beforehand and accelerate round the bend well within your limits. Right-hand bends are a lot easier, but don’t run away with the idea that you can’t overturn bike-over-sidecar. If you attempt a right-hand bend too quickly, even the safe sidecar outfit can overturn” – and a dramatic staged incident shows exactly how!
The spectacle of children playing in the streets was commonplace when the film was made, although in that regard the motorcyclist had a fine record. Police reports analysing 366 fatal accidents to children under 15 showed that only two were caused by motorcyclists, even though in the mid-1950s a fifth of vehicles registered were motorcycles. But even this very creditable figure still represented two young lives that might have been saved.
Another important consideration was how to deal with wet road surfaces, and the advice was to reduce speed, watch out on wet stone setts, wood block surfaces, steel roadways, tram lines, roads covered with wet leaves, loose gravel, especially on bends, and patches of oil even when the roads were dry (oily roads were often found at bus stops).
Even on a good surface, it was best to do all the braking with the machine vertical and travelling in a straight line, using the gears as a brake, and remembering that the front brake was the more important of the two.
In frozen conditions, it was best, if possible, to pick a path where the snow hadn’t been packed down into ice by the passage of vehicles, and when a road was a smooth skating rink, it was a good plan to ride in the gutter where there was usually a certain amount of grit to provide wheel grip.
When riding in gloomy or dark conditions, the advice was: “Try to be the first vehicle to light up rather than the last, and when you can’t see properly, switch on more light and reduce speed. There are ample cases of vehicles running into the back of unlit lorries, cyclists with no rear lamps, and darkly clad pedestrians, so don’t let this happen to you.”
An approaching vehicle with its offside light out could easily be mistaken for a solo, so it was always best for a rider to keep well on his own side of the road, switching to dipped beam when other vehicles approached, and slowing down or even stopping when he himself was dazzled. Even with street lighting, there were always dark pools to look out for, and before more effective penalties were introduced, drunken drivers were always a menace, especially late at night.
In thick fog, the advice was to keep well to the left, for approaching vehicles might be well astride the line – and to illustrate the uselessness of pilot lights in such conditions, a solo motorcycle on pilot light only is filmed, and simply cannot be seen until the dark bulk of bike and rider come into view. When the headlamp was switched on, they could be seen long before.
Rode Safely concludes with some common-sense reminders for the novice. “If you hear the bell of a fire engine or ambulance (no blues and twos or deafening screechers then), give the driver a clear road, pulling in and stopping if necessary. How much easier for him if other traffic gives way.” A city centre film sequence shows the chaotic and cluttered view the ambulance driver got.
If a rider could see a heavy lorry pulling up a hill towards him, he was advised to give way if need be, for, if many of the lorries of the time had to slow down, the driver might find it difficult to get his heavy load back under way. The same consideration had to be applied to horse-drawn traffic as well, by making as little noise as possible so as not to startle the animals.
As a rider stops his machine to ask a policeman on point duty how to find somewhere, the narrative goes: “If you want to know the way, find someone else to ask! You share the roads with 50 million others. Drivers, cyclists, pedestrians of all ages and all standards of intelligence, some young and fit, others old or not so fit. All of us make mistakes sometimes, so make allowances for theirs.”
In one staged incident, a motorcyclist shakes his fist at another road user – “the sign of a bad driver who has not yet learned to be tolerant. How much nicer it would be to see a wave and a friendly smile.”
As the rider of a small motorcycle comes across a parked car and a van blocking the road because its old driver is having difficulty in handcranking it into life, he repeatedly sounds his horn (which probably sounded like an angry wasp) before taking to the pavement.
“Repeated horn blowing like this is illegal as well as ill-mannered, and this is the type of rider who gets motorcyclists a bad name” goes the narrative.
Then a sidecar rider turns up and, seeing the van driver’s difficulty, parks his machine and gets the old vehicle going again – much more in the true motorcycling tradition.
The narrative concludes: “We’ve tried to cram the experience of a million miles into a brief 40-minute film, but don’t let that give you the idea that there’s anything complicated or difficult about motorcycling. For, although we’ve faked a few crashes to illustrate some of our points, we repeat that a motorcycle is not in itself a dangerous vehicle. Inevitably there are a few dangerous riders, just as there are dangerous drivers of cars and lorries, but by applying a little care, thoughtfulness and common sense, you’ll find motorcycling a safe, healthy and economical means of transport.”