Ogling of Women a Leading Cause of Car Accidents in Colombia

National Post [Canada] ^ | Thursday,June 15, 2006 | Canadian Press

[canuck_conservative]

In Colombia, beauty can kill. Drivers ogling attractive women rather than paying attention to the road are one of the South American country's leading causes of car accidents.

Distraction was the No. 1 cause of the 115,000 road accidents in Colombia last year, costing the equivalent of about $250 million Cdn, according to research by the Road Safety Fund, a private organization.

The cell phone was the biggest distraction for drivers, accounting for about 10 per cent of all accidents. Second was men staring at women, which accounted for nearly one in 20 crashes.

"It's a culture here of drivers honking the horn at an attractive woman, throwing her some compliment as he drives past, and he's not concentrating on driving," the group's director, Francisco Fernandez, told a news conference.

His presentation included close-up images of attractive women in miniskirts to remind the audience of the extent of this danger.

More than 1,300 drivers were interviewed for the study conducted by the fund, a private group made up of insurance companies.

Colombia has been improving its road safety, bringing down accidents from an average of 200,000 per year to just over 115,000 last year.

But with potholed roads traversing treacherous mountain ranges and drivers who don't think twice about overtaking on blind corners, driving in Colombia can still be a dangerous endeavour.

While authorities have begun fining those caught driving and speaking on a cell phone - sanctioning more than 17,000 drivers in Bogota alone last year - the fund is recommending less draconian methods to discourage men from looking at women while driving.

"We are hoping for an educational campaign, to inform drivers of how dangerous this can be," said Fernandez.

Other listed distractions were drivers fussing with their appearances and looking at advertising - which in Colombia often features scantily clad women.

The study found that as male drivers grow older, they get grumpier: less focused on women but more inclined to be distracted by arguing with their passengers.

"Around the world, distraction is one of the leading causes of accidents. The reasons for distractions are different for each culture," Fernandez said. "In the United States, research has found a large cause of distraction is eating while driving, something not seen here."

© The Canadian Press 2006

[StJacques]

Research must be thorough . . .

Ana Sofia Henao

[wallcrawlr]

we can only hope

[Skooz]

The first woman in your post is my owner.

She doesn't know it. But she is.

[Carl LaFong]

Best. Thread. Ever.

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

Interesting, I am trying to check what early years they were allowed to import.
With open car dealers a person might be able to pick up a classic cheap.
If the the year was one of the years 1955 to 1957, a real bargain might be made.

[California Patriot]

Sweet pic ... May we see more?

[MotleyGirl70]

Did someone say "The Bra-Less Wonder?"

[sheik yerbouty]

when I was single, I'd just stop the car!

[StJacques]

"Sweet pic ... May we see more?"

Nicole Gomez	Isabel Cristina Estrada Cano	Tatiana de los Rios

[Recon Dad]

I had a lapse of 30 years since from the last time I was there until I returned this past February. I know that getting cars 30 years ago was a real problem and could costs were redicuous. A Mustang could cost $50,000 when it sold in the states for $3,000. Everyone I know down there are driving Benz's and Beemers. Big SUV's are the in thing.

[Draco]

Again, StJacques, you go above and beyond the call. However, the third picture of your most recent post of Tatiana de los Rios shows up only as the "red x." Not as a criticism, but as a request, could you repost Tatiana? Your previous posts convinced me that I need to vacation in Colombia. Maybe stay there.

[StJacques]

Did you try refreshing your browser Draco? Sometimes the loading of pics time out. I just tested this on a separate PC and it shows up there just as it does here. Anyway, I'll put it in this post just the same, give me some feedback as to whether you see it here and in the earlier post too.

And to anyone else reading this, if you see the Tatiana de los Rios pic above and here, or not, let me know.

Tatiana de los Rios

Every now and then I visit some of the Colombian web sites just to try to get a feeling for what's going on down there these days. Though I found no nude pics, I had trouble finding some that were "toned down" sufficiently to post on this board. These women are blazing hot!

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

Did you travel much? I was all over.
The funniest or sad thing I saw was when we were moving a shothole crew.
The dynamite had to be guarded by their army.
We had a flatbed truck loaded with the dynamite, the grunts were riding on top of the dynamite.
The officer in charge was riding in a jeep about 1 mile behind the truck.
This was real dynamite that could be set off by a bullet!

[California Patriot]

How about giving us the web addresses?

[stumpy]

I have ogled good looking women since before I got a driver's license. I secretly blow them kisses as I go by. Makes for a more pleasent day, and less boring commute.

[StJacques]

"How about giving us the web addresses?"

Are you saying that the pic of Tatiana de los Rios are not showing? Is that what you want?

I posted the same pic twice and it still shows up in my browser. But here is the web address:

http://www.superlatinmodel.com/Images/supermodels/tatiana_de_los_rios/tatiana_main.jpg

Look, if it's not showing, let me know and I'll save it on my PC and upload it and post the new link. And if any of the other pics I linked to in my posts are not showing, please identify those for me as well.

And I just tested the link in this post and it brings up the pic.

[California Patriot]

I'm afraid this linked to "directnicparking.com" -- not exactly sexy stuff!

[StJacques]

Ok, I don't why that happened, I linked to the pic on its own server, maybe you needed a cookie installed to view it. I've just saved it and put it up on a different web server.

Tatiana de los Rios

Let me know if you can see this one. Were you able to see the others I posted, or was this the only one?

[California Patriot]

Nice. I've seen others too, not sure which ones you mean, though.

[StJacques]

"Nice. I've seen others too, not sure which ones you mean, though."

I posted in pics in posts # 43, 66, 81, and 89. If any of those pics are blank I'd like to know. Thus far it's only the Tatiana de los Rios pic.

Thanks for keeping me informed Patriot.