New Celebrity Sightings

We all know it: when driving in the rain, you must be careful. Speed down, drive slowly, turn the lights on, and use the wipers. If it gets really foggy, stop.

Have you thought, though, how many films have followed this advice on safe driving? What did those screen drivers do, to drive safe and to avoid accidents? And did they really avoid them?

Cue in Psycho. A girl steals thousands of dollars and has to escape. Where can she go? She drives on, and on, and on, getting more and more tired, and eventually has to stop by a motel. She is greeted by a rather handsome owner. Nothing makes us expect anything gruesome… even when she is in the shower, and we see a weird shadow slipping in through the door. For all we knew, the scene could turn out to be very romantic. But not in a film by Alfred Hitchcock. In a few moments the unfortunate Marion will be lying in the bathtub full of blood, supposedly killed by the motel owner’s mad mother. Ah, if only she knew there was no mother…

Is Rocky Horror Picture Show more or less dramatic than Psycho? It all depends on the point of view, but once again Brad and Janet came out of the car and walked through puddles to the castle where they were met by a large party of in weird costumes. And then they were greeted by Dr Frank-N-Furter who introduced them to his favourite possession… and a few other things.

Film directors, as we can see, have always used driving in the rain scenes to promote safer driving, on the one hand. The characters stopped the car, got out, and were soaking wet by the time they reached the closest habitat. On another hand, putting a character into the car and sending the rain pour down on them gave the director a license to thrill – or to kill, depending on the plot.

If we were to take any lesson from this, it would be about checking your itinerary, to identify possible stopping point on your journey. Indeed, the check-list of safe driving in the rain usually runs as follows: check your brakes, ensure your front and rare lamps work, take the tinted film off the windows, do not drive in the puddles, and do not park the car in the basement. But also check your route and identify the motels, B&Bs or guest houses where you could dine and sleep if the rain becomes heavier. In today’s world, you could turn to Google Maps to check the place where your possible lodge is located, as well as its website and existing customer reviews. Make sure that next time you drive in the rain and have to spend a night off the road, you do not get into either Bates Motel or Rocky Horror castle.  

Related topics include car loan, yes car and car finance

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