James Dean warns teenagers to drive safely In one of those stranger-than-fiction twists, Snopes has dug up this auto-safety PSA featuring James Dean — made shortly before the brilliant young actor died in a 1955 car crash. It’s a surreal bit, with Dean dressed in full cowboy regalia for Giant. In his signature half-awake delivery, Dean slouches and talks about how racing cured him of his speeding habit: “I used to fly around quite a bit, took a lot of unnecessary chances on the highways. I started racing, and now I drive on the highways extra-cautious, because no one knows what they’re doing half the time.” Of course, instead of being a poster boy for road safety, he became an icon of “live fast and die young” when his Porsche Spyder collided head-on with another car at speeds upward of 100 mph on Sept. 30, 1955. —Posted by David Griner

August 22, 2007 in Griner | Permalink

Comments

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freaky! but no crazier than having nascar folks pitching the NTSB ;)

Posted by: glenn | Aug 22, 2007 12:27:15 PM

An intersection accident in rural Bakersfield.
Supposedly, the passenger in Dean's car
was thrown from the crash, survived, and reported Dean's last words:
"I think he sees us."
Too bad. He didn't get to see the Dodgers win their first World Series a week later.

Posted by: Tom Messner | Aug 22, 2007 4:48:30 PM

Several accident reconstructions have shown that Dean wasn't speeding when the other car veered into his lane. Which makes his last line of the PSA even more eerie.

Posted by: Wrangler | Aug 26, 2007 8:35:39 PM

Dean accident reconstructions were rampant at the time.
One reconstructed Dean being thrown from the car and surviving in intensive care where he remains alive to this day.
The first film reconstruction showed a pickup
truck hitting Dean's car from an intersection.
Another (in a book) has Dean riding a motorcycle and forgetting to wear his glasses.

Posted by: Tom Messner | Aug 29, 2007 9:58:02 AM

You are on the road to no where
You will decide where to….

http://www.txtapic.com/roadsign

Donna

Posted by: Donna | Sep 9, 2007 1:53:32 PM

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