First Aired - April 6, 1967
Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Bill Gannon are working in Felony Follow-ups Section, Accident Investigation division. A driver has hit two elderly people who were crossing the street. The only information to go on is a blue Ford car. The episode also talks about car crashes in general as a number of scenes show the after effects of car crashes.
Just the Tropes, ma'am:
- Alas, Poor Villain: Clayton Filmore's final fate. He looses both legs in his second car crash. Everyone, including the prosecutor, feels sorry for him. However, they still do not allow him to drive a car anymore.
- The Alcoholic: Clayton typically drinks and drives. This causes him to lose both of his legs.
- An Aesop: Be careful driving and follow the rules of the road or you'll end up killing someone and/or yourself. If you don't die, you might might as well wish you had.
- Author Filibuster: Friday gives one when telling Reporter Norman Jacoby about the dangers of driving a car.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Reporter Norman Jacoby is more interested in seeing the photos of the car crash than information about car crashes as he is planning on printing them in the newspaper. Once Gannon shows him the photos, he regrets it and runs to the bathroom to throw up.
- Bystander Syndrome: The cab driver talks about how he sees so many traffic accidents everyday that he hardly reports on them anymore, due to being tied up in court.
- Cut Himself Shaving: Clayton says that his windshield being broken is due to hitting a dog. Everyone who sees the window and the car itself knows that a dog couldn't have caused so much damage.
- Divorce Is Temporary: Patricia Filmore is in the middle of divorcing her husband Clayton. He claims that he will improve himself and stop drinking if she drops the divorce. He doesn't last as both of them get into another crash.
- Drunk Driver: Clayton has a few drinks before driving, which causes him to end up in a second car crash, killing two teenage girls and causing him to lose both of his legs.
- Nosy Neighbor: Alice Bronson comes across as being a busy body when following the day to day activity of her neighbor. She insists that he is the one who ran over the elderly neighbors. The neighbor has nothing to do with the crash. His car had a flat tire and is white while the suspect car is green.
- Smug Snake: Clayton Filmore has no remorse for killing the two elderly people and starts to complain about his bail being so slow.
- Vomit Discretion Shot: Norman Jacoby, the reporter, leaves to go throw up after seeing the pictures and story from Friday on car crash victims. He hadn't touched his breakfast.
- What a Senseless Waste of Human Life: Friday talking with Norman Jacoby and also what people keep telling Clayton Filmore.
