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

[rattrap]

SCREEEEEEEECH CRUNCH!

[StJacques]

"SCREEEEEEEECH CRUNCH!"

You ok rattrap?

[Toby06]

LOL, we understand!

[mrsmith]

[StJacques]

Maria Virginia Balcazar

Guys; I had to come in for one more pic. I went looking for bigger and better versions of two very small pics I saw of this girl yesterday, but I never could find them. She is from the southern Colombian city of Popayan and is supposedly a well-known model, she is the "Palmolive Girl" in Colombia. I am telling you the full-bodied pics I saw of this girl were unbelievably stunning.

[California Patriot]

None are blank and they're all lovely. I can't get enough of these ladies!

[goldstategop]

Ogling a very beautiful woman might be the only thing that might lead me to wrap my car around a tree! ;-) SUPERMODELS ARE DANGEROUS TO MEN'S LIVES. (And this thread is - ahem - worthless without pics)

(Denny Crane: "Every one should carry a gun strapped to their waist. We need more - not less guns.")

[goldstategop]

My take on it on with a Teutonic twist:

Sie kann nicht ihm helfen, wenn sie dieser Weg gemacht wird,
sie ist nicht schuld, wenn sie ihr Weg aussehen,
sie ist nicht wirklich tryin', um eine Szene zu verursachen,
es kommt gerade natürlich, Herr das Mädchen kann nicht ihm helfen.

Gut auf der Hauptstraße, durch den Taxistand,
es gibt eine Menge von Leuten, und einem Rückstau,
sie sieht sich nicht um, sie ist nicht doin 'nichts' Falsches,
Herr hat Gnade, Baby, sie ist heiß, um zu traben!

[StJacques]

". . . they're all lovely. I can't get enough of these ladies! . . .

. . . And this thread is - ahem - worthless without pics"

When I did my search of the Colombian web sites day before yesterday, I did find a number of beauties I did not post, because generally speaking, I found many of the images a little smaller than I would like. If you guys want me to keep the thread going, I'll post a few more.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about. Obviously a true beauty, but we need a bigger pic:

Claudia Helena Vasquez Angel

See what I mean? I have the best of intentions, I assure you.

Let me know if you guys want to see some more Bellezas Colombianas and, if you do, I'll drop back in later to post some.

[California Patriot]

Yes, show more.

Claudia is really stunning.

[StJacques]

". . . Claudia is really stunning."

Yes she is Patriot. Unfortunately, many of the best shots of her, in true original "digital" format, are very small. One problem I've run across in finding top quality pics for posting on this thread is that a number of the best photographs are obviously scanned, and frequently with less than what we would consider top quality machinery (as evidenced by the quality of the scans). I much prefer to find pics of these women from newspaper and magazine web sites, which almost exclusively use original digital pics. But I do have some pics of Claudia to show you.

And Draco, Claudia is from Medellin. When your friend told you that you "go to Medellin to find a wife," this is what he had in mind.

Claudia Helena Vasquez Angel

[StJacques]

Alright; one more and I'm outta here.

This one was last year's Señorita Colombia (Miss Colombia):

Catherine Daza Manchola

[Draco]

Muchas gracias St. Jacques. Claudia Helena takes this, hands down. The ladies seem to lack "model pout" which is a good thing. In addition to being beautiful they look pleasant to be with. Hey, a man can still dream.

[StJacques]

". . . Claudia Helena takes this, hands down. . . ."

I rarely watch the beauty pageants, but I remember seeing a pic of her on the web just a few years back when she was in the Miss Universe contest. It was right on the MSN homepage and I immediately got interested in the event, which I watched. She was one of the final five as I recall and I remember when she was eliminated I yelled at the TV in a manner similar to that which I do on NFL Sundays. And about one or two years before she was in the Miss Universe contest a Miss Colombia won the event, with Miss Venezuela taking second. About two to three months after she won, she stepped down to "marry the man she loved," because "true love can't wait." Those people in Colombia just ate that up with a spoon.

And Draco, let me tell you, beauty pageants are a VERY BIG DEAL in Colombia, as in most of Latin America. There is a sense of regionalism involved with the Miss Colombia pageant that leads the people of each Department ("Province" may be a better word) to view their individual representative with a sense of devotion only exceeded by the esteem in which they hold the Virgin Mary. I honestly saw a fight break out once between two men in Bogota who were debating the relative virtues and distinct beauty of the current "Miss Cauca" and "Miss Antioquia," obviously the two regions from which these two hailed. (And when the police showed up a whole new argument broke out because the officer in charge was from Cuindinamarca and he insisted that their current queen was tops -- no kidding.) We're talking serious business when it comes to beauty pageants. I also remember the current Miss Colombia was follwed everywhere in the press while I was down there. She probably gave out about 15 interviews a month that were published in major newspapers or magazines and it was a certainty that you would hear about her every week on the evening news.

". . . The ladies seem to lack "model pout" which is a good thing. . . ."

A very astute observation there Draco. After the time I have spent these past few days looking over the Colombian web sites I noticed that on the occasions these women were asked to pout, their photos just did not "make it," if I can put it that way. Ana Sofia Henao is the one exception. These are women who are beautiful when they smile, and I always remembered Colombian women as a very happy lot. I've always told my friends that there are three things that set Colombian women apart from all others; constant smiling, a love of fine shoes like no other women on earth, and the practice of waxing their legs with parafin, rather than shaving.

[California Patriot]

Whoever chose Senorita Colombia chose well. Ms. Catherine Daza is a 10.5.

[StJacques]

"Whoever chose Senorita Colombia chose well. Ms. Catherine Daza is a 10.5."

I had a hard time believing that Maria Virginia Balcazar (first set above) didn't win it this year. I don't remember where I saw those two other pics of her, one was a full body photo in a bikini and the other was wearing that slit-skirt dress you see her in at the Miss Colombia pageant, though that pic is a different one than the small pic I saw of her in it and from a different angle. I guess they had to keep the pics small to protect my motherboard from overheating. I'm telling you that girl is gorgeous.

And since I'm posting . . . here's another Colombiana for you:

Carolina Cruz

[JRios1968]

Which distraction is worse - ogling women, using a cellphone, playing with the radio, or eating?

Try doing ALL OF THEM!