History Film / LastClearChance

* BrokenAesop: While Trooper Hal's message is that most accidents are caused by small mistakes, the fatal collision occurs because of over-the-top idiocy which could have put Frank Jr. into the ditch ''long'' before he met the train.

* TwistEnding: [[spoiler:The short makes it seem like new driver Alan will die despite Hal's best efforts to educate him. It's actually his older brother, Frank Jr.]]

* RailroadTracksOfDoom: The main point of the film, as the sponsor is Union Pacific Railroad, who wanted to reduce the amount of train-car collisions in the country (for obvious reasons).

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Trooper Hal's ending monologue is essentially this to those whom he pulls over because they were bending the rules.

* TonightSomeoneDies: Foreshadowed with the opening -- a state patrol trooper stopping at the entrance to a cemetery but too shamed to go inside. He almost immediately reveals that the son of a close friend has died.
* TooDumbToLive: Frank Jr. and Betty wave playfully at Alan, even as he's desperately trying to warn them about the oncoming train.

* UnflinchingFaithInTheBrakes: Defied -- there is absolutely no way for a train at speed to stop before it hits you. Notice that Frank Jr. crashes into the front of the train, but by the time the train has stopped, only the last car or two are still in sight. It took the entire length of the train for the operators to bring it to a halt.

* NostalgiaFilter: The state trooper reminisces on the technological advances of the time in the rural parts of America. It also turns the film into an unintended period piece to modern audiences.

* UnflinchingFaithInTheBrakes: Defied -- there is absolutely no way for a train at speed to stop before it hits you. Notice that Frank Jr. crashes into the front of the train, but by the time the train has stopped, only the last car or two are still in sight. It took the entire length of the train for the conductors to bring it to a halt.

* WholeEpisodeFlashback: After opening with a funeral procession, Trooper Hal tells the viewer about how he visited the bereaved family just a few days earlier to instruct their son about safe driving. His obvious shame and disappointment lets us know that the lesson didn't take.

While maligned by some as [[{{Narm}} too narmish]] – particularly for the train conductor's sad and anguished "Why don't they ''look?''" – it was lauded by many others as a sobering effort to instill safe driving in young drivers. The movie itself was filmed in southwestern Idaho, with some footage also filmed in northern Colorado.

* ChaseScene: Trooper Hal describes a car chase, involving a 17-year-old boy - an acquaintance of young Alan - speeding in a hot rod. The crash ends tragically when the boy loses control of his car on a winding, gravel road and plummets down the side of a hill; the boy is killed instantly when the car lands on top of him.
* CluelessAesop: Although the message of "pay attention while driving" is one that more people need to take to heart, this short presents it ham-handedly. After an entire lecture about how little mistakes behind the wheel can be fatal, a character goes out and does something insanely stupid ''on purpose'', effectively throwing his life away.

* DownerEnding: A distracted Frank drives into the side of a train, killing himself and possibly his fiancée, while his brother helplessly watches.
* FailedASpotCheck: Frank is too busy ''driving while waving at his brother behind his car'' to notice the train crossing the road in front of him. His girlfriend, the only other passenger, is similarly distracted.

* IdiotBall: Frank Jr. dies and Betty is seriously injured ''because they're looking backwards and waving at Al instead of watching the road.'' They could have crashed into literally anything.
** The various deaths depicted in the film from people's reckless driving.

* TooDumbToLive: Hey, look! Someone's desperately gesturing to look directly ahead of us at the oncoming train! Let's wave back!

Idaho State Patrol Trooper Hal Jackson (played by William Boyett) visits a local family (established as friends), whose youngest son Alan has recently received his driver's license. Knowing Alan has a tendency to bend the rules a bit, he gives a lecture about the consequences of unsafe driving -- one story ends in the death of one of Alan's friends -- and especially the dangers of risky behavior at railroad crossings. Alan, much chastened, swears to use caution and obey traffic laws at all times.

While maligned by some as [[{{Narm}} too narmish]] – particularly for a reactionary scene near the end of the film, where one railroad worker asks why some drivers fail to heed basic safety rules – it was lauded by many others as a sobering effort to instill safe driving in young drivers. The movie itself was filmed in southwestern Idaho, with some footage also filmed in northern Colorado.

* StartsWithTheirFuneral: The opening scene is of a funeral procession for someone Trooper Hal calls a family friend. Though it appears at first that new driver Alan will die, we learn that is actually for Frank Jr.

* TruthInTelevision: People are stupidly careless around railroad crossings even to this day. Operation Lifesaver exists for a reason. Even the tragedy in this short was based on a real incident.

* WholeEpisodeFlashback: Following the opening scene of a funeral procession, Trooper Hal reflects back to just a few days earlier, when he stopped at the farm place of a family friend to visit and advise their youngest, newly licensed son about driver safety.

* ChaseScene: Trooper Hal describes a car chase, involving a 17-year-old boy -– an acquaintance of young Alan -– speeding in a hot rod. The crash ends tragically when the boy loses control of his car on a winding, gravel road and plummets down the side of a hill; the boy is killed instantly when the car lands on top of him.

Idaho State Patrol Trooper Hal Jackson (played by William Boyett), concerned over automotive and train safety, visits with a local family (established as friends), whose youngest son has recently received his license. Through a series of scenarios detailing bad driving etiquette, unsafe driving -- one story ends in the death of one of the kid's friends -- and ignorance of safety around railroads, Jackson's goal is to impress upon the young lad the need to observe safety and driving laws all of the time.

But has his grim lesson sunk in, or will innocent people perish under the wheels of our mortal enemy, the train? (Answer: Yes.)

* BrokenAesop: While Trooper Hal's message is that most accidents are caused by small mistakes, the fatal collision occurs because of over-the-top idiocy which could easily have put Frank Jr. into the ditch long before he met the train.

* ChaseScene: Trooper Hal describes a car chase, involving a 17-year-old boy – an acquaintance of young Alan – speeding in a hot rod. The crash ends tragically when the boy loses control of his car on a winding, gravel road and plummets down the side of a hill; the boy is killed instantly when the car lands on top of him.

** In the full version the short opens with Frank Jr. gunning it across railroad tracks barely missing a train.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Trooper Hal's ending monologue is essentially this to those who he pull over because they weren't following the rules.
-->'''Hal:''' My place was out on the road. Out on the road, I can at least ''try'' to keep people from killing themselves in their car. So, if the next car I stop happens to be yours, don't tell me you were only "speeding a little", only "breaking the law a little", only doing something a little bit wrong; save that for someone else, brother! Because I've seen too many "little follies", and they end up with someone "a little bit'' ''dead''.
* SafeDrivingAesop: A cop drops in on a farm family to explain to the youngest son -- who just got his driver's license -- that he shouldn't bend the rules, ''especially'' around railroad tracks. Because they live in a cruel, merciless world, the ''older'' brother crashes his car into the side of a moving train -- killing himself and possibly his fiancée -- not ten minutes later.

* StartsWithTheirFuneral: The opening scene is of a funeral procession, which we later learn is for Frank Jr.

* WholeEpisodeFlashback: Following the opening scene of a funeral procession, Trooper Hal reflects back to just a few days earlier, when he stopped at the farm place of a family friend to visit and advise their youngest, newly licensed son, about driver safety.

* CluelessAesop: Although the message of "pay attention while driving" is a good one that more people need to take to heart, it's made rather stupidly. The entire short is about how even minor failures of caution can be dangerous or even fatal. However, when the big accident does happen, it's because the driver was doing something so insanely stupid that ''no one'' would consider it a harmless thing to try.

* TonightSomeoneDies: Foreshadowed with the opening –- a state patrol trooper stopping at the entrance to a cemetery but too shamed to go inside. He almost immediately reveals that the son of a close friend has died.