On 17 May 1973 in the Tarn region of France, the “Mazamet, ville morte” road safety awareness campaign took place in front of the ORTF cameras. The town's 16,610 inhabitants lay on the road for 10 minutes between 2.30pm and 2.40pm, with footage taken from the ground and by helicopter. They represented the 16,500 people killed in road accidents in France the previous year, a record year for road deaths. The idea was the brainchild of journalist Michel Tauriac, and the inter-ministerial road safety committee set up the previous year is backing the operation. The documentary film behind the operation, “Mazamet, la ville rayée de la carte”, was directed by Guy Seligmann. It was broadcast on television on 1 June 1973 as part of the programme “24 heures sur la Une”, and caused a real stir.