Red Asphalt is a series of instructional driver's education films and videos produced by the California Highway Patrol, known for their graphic depictions of fatal traffic collisions in a shockumentary style.
Screened in driver's education classes at a time when violence was rarely depicted in movies and never shown on TV, its graphic nature immediately turned it into a teenage classic.
"[2] Red Asphalt III, produced in 1989, showed "stomach-churning wreckage scenes and images of mangled bodies, crushed skulls and charred flesh.
"[5] The fourth version, produced in 1998, was a more "tasteful" affair, focusing on rescuers and family members rather than the original's graphic crash footage.
[2] The series was criticized in 2006 by the Los Angeles Times for its poor acting and being a "joyless ride" of gruesome images and statistics; the paper called Red Asphalt "the Reefer Madness of driving: Forget trying to reason with teenagers, just scare 'em.