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Gore or Emotion -- What Moves Teen Drivers?

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Times Staff Writer

It was the final day of “Horror Week” in Gary Gunstream’s health and safety class at Arroyo High School.

For four days, the El Monte teacher had shown his teenage students a series of driver’s education films, most intended to shock them into taking seriously the bloody consequences of unsafe driving habits.

For the final day of the week, Gunstream saved what may be the goriest of driving films: “Red Asphalt III,” the third installment in the blood-soaked series produced by the California Highway Patrol.

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“It’s very graphic,” he warned his students, most of whom continued to chatter and shuffle books and paper as Gunstream spoke. “If you are bothered by it, I’ll send you out.”

The warning was justified. The film showed stomach-churning wreckage scenes and images of mangled bodies, crushed skulls and charred flesh.

“That’s pretty nasty,” one of the teens said afterward.

That’s the intended reaction. The premise behind “Red Asphalt III” and the previous two versions is to shock drivers-to-be into thinking twice before making dumb driving decisions -- driving drunk, speeding or driving without a seat belt.

Does it work? Not everyone thinks so.

Some traffic safety experts believe that such gruesome images are no longer effective on teens desensitized by violence on television, computer games and movies. Among the skeptics: the CHP.

Since the 1950s, the CHP has produced four versions of “Red Asphalt,” the most recent of which was released in 1998. The first three in the series are chock-full of splattered blood, exposed bone, spilled brain matter and horror.

The latest version -- “Red Asphalt ‘98” -- however, takes a new tactic. It cuts back on the gore, replacing it with heart-wrenching stories from people who lost a loved one in an auto accident.

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The latest film is intended to strike teenagers on an emotional level, by showing the heartache that unsafe driving can create, said Steve Kohler, the producer of the last two “Red Asphalt” films.

Besides, Kohler said, it seems that the older “Red Asphalt” films have become gruesome entertainment to some hard-bitten students.

In fact, some of the old “Red Asphalt” films are now sold on the Internet alongside other death-themed films like “Death Scenes” and “101 Dead Legends.”

But many driver’s education teachers in Southern California -- like Gunstream -- say the shock value of the old “Red Asphalt” films is still effective.

“It’s because they are graphic that I use them,” said Floyd Berger, a Moorpark High School driver’s education teacher who shows “Red Asphalt II” and “Red Asphalt III” to his students.

Dennis Marquardt, who has taught driver’s education for 34 years at Temple City High School, shows “Red Asphalt III” and the less-gory “Red Asphalt ’98.” But he said he believes that the earlier version has a stronger effect on his students.

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“I think they have to know what is going on out there on the freeways,” he said.

Carl Renner, a driver’s education teacher at Cupertino High School since 1964, disagrees. He said the bloody scenes in the earlier films produce only a temporary scare. In the long term, Renner said such scare tactics don’t change the behavior of young drivers.

“There are other ways you can get the message across instead of showing kids 30 minutes of blood and gore,” he said.

Whether it changes a young driver’s behavior or not, there is no doubt that the earlier “Red Asphalt” films still get the attention of young people.

Rebecca Oliver, a driver’s education teacher at Pacific Coast High School in Orange County, showed “Red Asphalt II” to a class of 15-year-olds in October. Afterward, she asked them to write an evaluation.

One student wrote: “The most enjoyable, yet gross, and helpful thing for me was watching ‘Red Asphalt’ because then I realized ... how dangerous driving can be and that I need to take driving seriously.”

Another student wrote: “I also didn’t like seeing ‘Red Asphalt.’ It was pretty gross and I am already nervous about driving.”

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When Gunstream showed “Red Asphalt III” to his class recently, some of the students joked and giggled nervously at a scene where two coroner workers scraped bits of brain matter from the pavement at an accident scene.

But the room turned deadly silent at the image of a crying toddler lying face down on the pavement after being hit by a car.

“Mr. Gunstream, is this stuff real?” asked a student near the back of the class.

“Yes,” he answered.

Gunstream said there are usually a few “hard-core” students who find the bloody scenes entertaining. “But for mainstream kids, it’s still effective,” he said.

After the class, Reanna Longthorne, 15, and Patricia Vargas, 16, said they were disturbed by the film and plan to drive with much greater care when they get their licenses.

“Showing the gore is showing how it really is,” Longthorne said.

Another student, Joseph Fernandez, 17, said he was not shocked by the gore. He said he has been conditioned to such bloody scenes by playing blood-fest video games like “Resident Evil.”

“You got video games that show just as much blood and gore,” Fernandez said. “It’s nothing that we haven’t seen.”

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The CHP is considering producing a newer version of the film, Kohler said.

But the agency has to decide if the next version will try to shock kids with gore or tug at the heartstrings with tearful tales of loss to make its point. Kohler said that the CHP may turn to focus groups or marketing experts to decide.

“Whatever it takes,” he said, “to get the message out for safety.”

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If you have a gripe, question or story idea about driving in Southern California, write to Behind the Wheel c/o Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012, or e-mail behindthewheel@latimes.com.

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