It's a visual reminder for Hamilton seniors not to take their safety for granted when crossing the street or walking down a sidewalk.

Heads Up: Road Safety Points for Seniors and Youths, a 15-minute video debuted recently at the Sackville Hill Seniors Recreation Centre.

"The goal was to educate seniors about taking responsibility for their own safety crossing the street, not to cross in the middle of the street, to make sure they go to the lights, not to trust other people and expect them to stop for you," said Bev Neill, manager of municipal service centres.

"The flip side of that was to educate youth about being a little more patient and how when you're revving your car and a senior is crossing, how that can cause them to be a little panicked."

Ms. Neill said the city's seniors advisory committee received a $22,000 grant from the New Horizons program last December to make the video.

"The seniors were involved in developing the scenes they wanted to see," Ms. Neill said. "They were all scenarios they had experienced or knew about."

All of the scenes in the video that were taped in April and May at various locations including Upper Wentworth and Mohawk, downtown near city hall and in Glanbrook, feature local seniors, some using walkers and scooters, and Mohawk College students.

The video was made by a crew of television students at Mohawk headed by graduating student Robert Cassibo, who is also writer, producer and director of the video.

"It was very fulfilling to make this video because it wasn't just for entertainment, it was for people to learn something," Mr. Cassibo said.

He said the seniors were great to work with during the shooting days that usually ran six to 10 hours.

The video reviews the dos and don'ts when it comes to walking across country roads, busy city intersections, plaza parking lots and maneuvering around vehicles in driveways that extend out on to the sidewalk.

There is no dialogue in the video, just ambient sound that Mr. Cassibo said he downloaded royalty free from his computer.

Ms. Neill said dialogue was left out on purpose so that the video can be shown to any group of seniors, youths or others without the worry of potential language barriers.

The video will be shown to seniors groups and high school students in the coming weeks and will be used by police as an educational tool, Ms. Neill said.

Copies of the video will be made available for all seniors centres in Hamilton.